Man Says He Was Robbed at Gunpoint by Attacker in Clown Mask

GRAMERCY, NY — A man told cops he was robbed at gunpoint on Monday night by two men, and that one of them was wearing a clown mask, an NYPD spokesperson told Patch Tuesday.

The NYPD spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon there were "inconsistencies in the man's story," but that the case was still under investigation.

The man told cops he was robbed at 33rd Street and Second Avenue at 11 p.m., the spokesperson said. The man told the NYPD that he stepped out of his car when two men pulled a gun on him, and he gave the men his phone, cash, and car keys.

The incident could be the latest in a string of creepy clown attacks reported across the country over the past month.

A man dressed up as a clown (well, a poorly costumed one) wielding a kitchen knife blocked the subway entrance doors just last month at the 96th Street subway station on the Upper East Side. When a 16-year-old boy tried to run through the entrance, the clown chased him down. The NYPD arrested the man, 53-year-old Upper West Sider Thomas Smith, the next week.

Across the U.S. in the past few months, clowns have been spotted chasing teens with knives, threatening middle schools, robbing convenience stores and popping out of wooded areas to throw sticks at people, just to name a few incidents.

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