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Man who called 911, pursued suspect in Weber County clown scare shares his story

Posted at 9:14 PM, Oct 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-21 08:22:27-04

PLAIN CITY, Utah -- Another clown-related scare this week in Weber County turned out to be a prank, and now police have a warning for those who are clowning around.

Chris Pierce is among those who called 911 after spotting a clown around 5 p.m. Tuesday in Plain City.

“There's a guy walking around here in a clown suit holding a machete," he says on the audio from the call.

“I just thought that's kind of crazy, this isn't happening in my neighborhood,” Pierce said.

Pierce says he saw the clown outside his home, chasing cars down with what looked like a machete in hand.

“It was silver, he had a lot of fake blood over it and the costume,” Pierce said. “It kind of freaked me out, scared the crap out of my kids cause they've already been scared about it for weeks.”

Pierce told dispatch the clown was running in a nearby field and hiding behind homes. Still calls kept coming in. The story continued to get more bizarre as Pierce started chasing the clown.

“He jumped in a side-by-side utility vehicle, and the chase was on. Started hitting the back of him... until he pulled over,” Pierce said.

Minutes later, police arrived on scene. Behind the mask was an 18 year old who said he was playing a prank on his sister and her friends, and in his hand was not a machete but a plastic sword.

“Intent to have some fun originally, but take it a little too far and their intent goes from having fun to causing public nuisance and alarm,” said Lt. Chad Ferrin of the Weber County Sheriff's Office.

Police decided to cite the teen. With the creepy clown epidemic across the country, Weber County Sheriff's Office says they will cite or arrest any clown causing public alarm.

“This time of year, with what's going on, I think it's a good idea [to cite offenders], I think people should know better,” Pierce said.

The incident marks the fifth clown scare in recent weeks in the area.