By Tim Binnall
A homeowner in Wisconsin found himself in trouble with the law after he enlisted someone to dress as a clown and terrify a group of teenagers who thought that the unsettling individual had broken into the residence. The misguided prank reportedly occurred on the Saturday before Halloween in the community of West Bend. What likely began as a fun gathering at a friend's house ahead of the holiday quickly turned troubling when the teens were surprised by a clown that had seemingly broken into the home. Understandably unnerved by the presence of the haunting harlequin, one quick-thinking teen phoned 911 to report the unnerving intruder.
In a recording of the rather strange call, the frightened girl can be heard telling the dispatcher that "there's a clown inside, like an actual clown, inside the house right now." Asked if she could identify the intruder, the teen indicated that she could not and then indicated that "my friend's parents" were also in the house, before nervously saying "just get here as fast as you can, please." Shortly after the call for help, the case of the mysterious clown was solved in a less-than-dramatic fashion as a man phoned 911 to say that it was all a big misunderstanding. "We're ok. We're just playing a joke. Sorry they called you. I didn't know my daughter had a friend on the phone," the presumably embarrassed parent of one of the teens said to the dispatcher.
It was later revealed that the intruder was simply another family member in a clown costume who had 'broken into' the home to scare the teens. While the dispatcher expressed understanding over the strange situation, authorities were not so forgiving as the homeowner was ultimately issued a citation for disorderly conduct over the incident. In explaining their reasoning to a local TV station, the West Bend Police said that while they realized "this was intended to be a Halloween prank, but the investigating officer believed it was carried too far when the parent involved didn't put an end to the joke before 911 became involved."