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In the nearby city of Montpellier a man disguised as a clown was arrested after beating up a pedestrian with an iron bar, while three motorists in different towns complained about "scary clowns" threatening them.
The phenomenon of dressing up as an evil clown and terrifying passers-by -- a trend which has also been seen in the United States and Britain -- cropped up in the north of France in early October.
In the northern French town of Bethune, a 19-year-old received a six-month suspended jail term Monday for threatening passers-by while dressed as a clown.
These "clowns" have been "mostly spotted outside schools, but also on public roads, in bushes, in a square. Their targets are often young children or teenagers, but also adults," a police source in northern France told AFP.
Theories abound as to the origin of the trend in a country where the American fear-fest Halloween has yet to take hold.
The suggestions include a challenge launched on social networks, a video published on YouTube showing a terrifying clown pranking people -- which has had some 31 million views -- or even a recent episode of the popular TV series American Horror Story featuring Twisty the killer clown.
- Anti-clown vigilantism -
After a rumour a clown was stalking the eastern French town of Mulhouse, five teenagers on Wednesday armed themselves with a baseball bat, a teargas canister, a hammer and a truncheon to mete out vigilante justice to the not-so-funny pranksters.
They were arrested and later released, but the incident prompted the national police to step in to quell the hysteria.
"Since mid-October, a rumour inspired by videos published on the Internet, is worrying the population about the presence of threatening and aggressive clowns in France," the national police said in a statement this week.
It cautioned that "despite numerous reports made to police, there have been only a few sightings of people dressed as clowns having fun scaring passers-by."
"Symptomatic of the impact of the Internet, this phenomenon can lead to damaging individual acts and disturbances to public order," it said.
Whether brandishing a rubber chicken at a children's party or starring as the evil protagonist in a horror film, clowns have long had the ability to both entertain and terrify.
Infamous creepy clowns include notorious American serial killer and rapist John Wayne Gacy -- who would dress up as Pogo the clown -- to the fictitious Pennywise in Stephen King's movie "It".
The fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia.
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The phenomenon of dressing up as an evil clown and terrifying passers-by -- a trend which has also been seen in the United States and Britain -- cropped up in the north of France in early October.
In the northern French town of Bethune, a 19-year-old received a six-month suspended jail term Monday for threatening passers-by while dressed as a clown.
These "clowns" have been "mostly spotted outside schools, but also on public roads, in bushes, in a square. Their targets are often young children or teenagers, but also adults," a police source in northern France told AFP.
Theories abound as to the origin of the trend in a country where the American fear-fest Halloween has yet to take hold.
The suggestions include a challenge launched on social networks, a video published on YouTube showing a terrifying clown pranking people -- which has had some 31 million views -- or even a recent episode of the popular TV series American Horror Story featuring Twisty the killer clown.
- Anti-clown vigilantism -
After a rumour a clown was stalking the eastern French town of Mulhouse, five teenagers on Wednesday armed themselves with a baseball bat, a teargas canister, a hammer and a truncheon to mete out vigilante justice to the not-so-funny pranksters.
They were arrested and later released, but the incident prompted the national police to step in to quell the hysteria.
"Since mid-October, a rumour inspired by videos published on the Internet, is worrying the population about the presence of threatening and aggressive clowns in France," the national police said in a statement this week.
It cautioned that "despite numerous reports made to police, there have been only a few sightings of people dressed as clowns having fun scaring passers-by."
"Symptomatic of the impact of the Internet, this phenomenon can lead to damaging individual acts and disturbances to public order," it said.
Whether brandishing a rubber chicken at a children's party or starring as the evil protagonist in a horror film, clowns have long had the ability to both entertain and terrify.
Infamous creepy clowns include notorious American serial killer and rapist John Wayne Gacy -- who would dress up as Pogo the clown -- to the fictitious Pennywise in Stephen King's movie "It".
The fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia.
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