Essex family warning parents after creepy clown chases teen

CTV Windsor: Scary clown chases Essex teen A creepy clown in Essex has a teenager and his family on edge. Stefanie Masotti has their story.

A creepy clown in Essex has a teenager and his family on edge.

It's an epidemic of scary clown sightings, first across the U.S., now Windsor-Essex residents are taking to social media to log local sightings, including an Essex teen.

Kevyn Tousignante, 15, tells CTV News two clowns chased him and a friend out of Big Hill Park around 9 p.m. Wednesday night.

"My heart dropped," says Tousignante. "We turned around looked behind up and they started running towards us, so we started going faster on our bikes."

He says they stopped at the nearest gas station where the attendant called police.

“It's actually traumatizing."

His mother, Jennifer Tousignante, says Kevyn was shaking when he returned home that night.

“I decided to go on Facebook and warn all these parents, I couldn't believe how many responses I got,” she says. “It's nuts."

Jeff Matthews wrote on Facebook "saw a kid today walking down Dougall dressed as a creepy clown" and Jayme Lebreton posted there was also a clown on Tranby in Windsor.

Others voicing their frustration on social media with the copycat trend.

Margaret Dowhan posted "don't ppl have better things to do than going around looking like a clown!!!! seriously."

OPP Const. Jim Root, confirms two teens in Essex, dressed as clowns, were located and given a warning.

“With Halloween approaching we are likely to get more and more calls,” says Root.

"Consider your actions and understand that the police may get involved and intervene."

Jennifer Tousignante says the image of clowns has now been forever altered.

“Clowns are supposed to be fun, little kids are supposed to want them at their birthday party, and with all this it’s not fun," she says.

She has one tip for parents as the ‘clownpocalypse’ continues to hit our streets.

"If you have kids don't let them out after dark and just try to talk to them about it," she says.

“If you see a clown turn around the other way, call the cops and let them know where you were."

Police in both Windsor and Chatham-Kent said this week they have officers in schools to talk to kids about the 'creepy clown' hoax and they are using social media to limit the impact it has locally.