What a clown.
A creepy intruder wearing a Pennywise mask broke into a Tennessee garden center and ran a saw blade before fleeing, startled by a sound coming from the store's intercom.
Unidentified robber brandishing a flashlight – wearing a blue jacket and white mask, with curly orange hair ah Stephen King's killer clown “It” character entered Donelson's JVI Secret Garden by kicking through a backyard fence on a rainy day last week. According to News Channel 5 in Nashville.
The store's owner, Derek Johnson, told the network that his business partner had seen the “Pennywise” lookalike limping around on the store's surveillance cameras.
The partner told Johnson to get there as soon as possible.
“'Hey, there's someone in the garden center wearing a white mask. You need to get up there right now,'” Johnson recalled a co-worker telling her.
But one look at the footage convinced Johnson that was not the case.
“I said, 'No, I'm not going there,'” he said with a laugh.
Instead, Johnson tried to talk to the robber through the camera's speaker, which worked.
“When I clicked on the speaker, I think it went off, and he acknowledged it and said, 'I'm leaving,' and he ejected,” Johnson said.
When Johnson later arrived, he said he noticed the intruder had tried to jack the propane tank and tried to escape with a circular saw blade.
“We have a creepy clown here,” the owner said. “He stole the saw blade.''
Police are still investigating the incident, but this is not the first time the store has been the victim of thieves.
Johnson said the series of break-ins will likely result in the installation of several more cameras.
“A similar tank was stolen six months ago, so I feel like it's the same person,” he says. “They stole a tool bag and came to the same location.”
Johnson told the network she was glad no one was hurt, but said the crime still left her shaken.
“It's being processed,” he said. “This is a nice little garden center. Donelson. I really don't understand why people invade garden centers everywhere.”
