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After national ‘creepy clown’ reports, DeKalb police warn about ‘clowning’

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After nationwide “creepy clown” reports, DeKalb police are warning against what they have called “clowning” during the Halloween season.

In a statement, police warned that “clowning,” where people dress as clowns intending to scare the public, causes a disturbance. Though wearing a costume is not illegal, intentional acts to alarm the public could lead to criminal charges, according to police.

DeKalb police said they will have additional officers working during Halloween “to ensure that everyone enjoys it safely,” and highlighted Halloween events coordinated by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.

“These incidents are not simple cases of kids in costumes enjoying a party and trick-or-treating, but more deliberate acts designed to cause a disturbance in our community,” officials said in the statement.

The warning follows clown-related threats and possible sightings in the Fox Valley earlier in October. Elgin police investigated a report of a person dressed as a clown lurking near College Green Drive, and Oswego-based Community Unit School District 308 officials determined a clown-related threat directed at two junior high schools was a hoax.

DeKalb School District 428 and some individual schools in the district have also issued statements about clowns in response to national reports, interim Superintendent Brad Hawk said in an email. No DeKalb schools have received clown-related threats, he said, and characterized the statements as “a proactive encouragement to be cautious and remind students that not everyone they encounter using social media should be their friends,”

DeKalb Police Cmdr. Craig Woodruff said police received two reports of suspicious clowns around 11 p.m. early last week. In one instance, a person in a clown costume was seen riding a bicycle near the 1000 block of West Lincoln Highway, near Northern Illinois University. In another, the report described a person in a clown costume standing near the edge of the 100 block of Bethany Road, then running away and hiding when a car drove up, he said.

Woodruff said both reports were made well after the sightings, so the officers who responded “couldn’t find anything.” Police don’t have enough information to determine whether the two clown sightings were related, he said.

Woodruff urged residents to call police if they notice suspicious behavior.

“A clown by themselves, of course I don’t want to say they’re suspicious,” he said. “It’s just a clown. But any suspicious behavior, certainly give us a call.”

sfreishtat@tribpub.com

Twitter @srfreish