ONTARIO — No clown sightings have been reported by law enforcement in Richland County, but Dusty Boggs and others insist they are out there, lurking in the shadows.
Boggs, 17, of Ontario, said she was frightened by a clown two nights in a row over the weekend.
“I was taking my dogs outside to go potty and we have a fenced-in yard. I looked up and he was 8 to 10 feet from my porch to the fence line — straight ahead of me,” she said. “It scared me to death.”
Boggs said her German Shepherd ran to the fence where the clown stood and barked — but the clown, unmoved, remained.
“You’d think if a German Shepherd was running toward you you would flinch or run away or something, but he didn’t. He just stood there,” Boggs said.
She described the clown as wearing a jumpsuit and an orange wig. It brandished an ax, the first night. The second night it wore a balloon-type outfit with rainbow hair and brandished a machete. Boggs, who lives with her parents along Ohio 314, close to Ontario High School, called the police after both instances.
She said the clown tried to send her a friend request via Facebook.
“I made a police report and blocked them completely. I’m tired of being scared, but it worries me … what was he trying to do?” she wondered.
According to the Ontario Police Department detective Jon Sigler, the department has not received calls of clown sightings. However, Sigler said he is aware of the sightings and would respond accordingly if a call was made within the department’s jurisdiction.
Apparently, the elusive clown or clowns have been popping up at other locations in the country and in Richland County.
Earliest reports began in late August when South Carolina children reported clowns tried luring them into woods. A CNN article described the news as “a rash of clown sightings.”
The Richland County Sheriff’s Office has received five calls related to clown sightings within the last few days. The Mansfield Police Department has received four calls, all within the same location near North Lake Park.
One MPD report on Monday night indicated a woman was followed by a man in a silver Honda CRV, “with a clown face” on Park Avenue near the Trimble Road intersection.
Another MPD report, dated early Tuesday morning, said clowns with machetes were seen chasing people in North Lake Park.
Mansfield Police Chief Ken Coontz calls the clown infestation silly.
“It’s not illegal to dress up like that. Now, I’ve seem some where they’re jumping out in traffic,” Coontz said. “That’s a whole different level of stupidity that we can deal with, but don’t call the police unless there’s some sort of criminal issue going on.”
The Shelby Police Department has received a couple of calls, but according to Chief Lance Combs, chasing down clowns is a waste of time and resources.
“Diverting our limited resources away from criminal activity and proactive engagement with the public to chasing clowns is a waste of those resources,” Combs wrote on the department’s Facebook wall.
Galion Police Department received two calls early Monday morning of clown sightings. No clowns were reported seen by police, according to police records.
Editor’s note: This story has been changed to reflect more accurate information. Originally, the story read that OPD responded to Dusty Bogg’s call.
