Creepy clown with knife threatens student

A 14-year old Malverne High School student had just left school yesterday when he was approached from behind by a person dressed in a purple clown costume with a white mask, red wig and brandishing a large kitchen knife, Nassau Police reported.

The student had walked through an opening in the fence at the dead end of Clinton Avenue, which leads to a grassy alleyway in Lakeview when he was confronted by the assailant.

After running through the alleyway, onto Jefferson Avenue and continuing onto Langdon Boulevard, the student noticed that the clown was no longer there.

The student was uninjured, and said the person was approximately 6’ tall with a thin build.

Detectives request anyone with information regarding this incident to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

Time magazine recently reported that a national 'clown hysteria' started in late August in South Carolina and has been spreading throughout the country after unsubstantiated reports that clowns tried to lure children into the woods. The craze has since ignited a national phenomenon and have reached the metro area, where three New Jersey teens were recently arrested after wearing clown masks and hanging out the windows of a moving car while threatening the driver of another car.

On Long Island, Suffolk County Police Department reported that a clown-related incident caused the lock down of a North Babylon school and that a group of people dressed as clowns were jumping in front of cars in Brentwood.