Creepy Clown of Upper East Side Arrested

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Big Apple Circus isn't in town, but one clown hasn't taken the hint. A knife-wielding Bozo was spotted tormenting subway riders on the Upper East Side last week, and police just announced that they arrested the creepy clown.

Thomas Smith, 53, of the Upper West Side was arrested Thursday night and has been charged with menacing, police told Patch.

Smith was spotted in the East 96th Street 6 train station around around 1:55 p.m. on Oct. 5, police told Patch. As passengers attempted to get off an incoming train, he menacingly blocked the doors, police said.

One brave 16-year-old ran past Smith and through the train doors, police said — only to find the clown chasing him out of the station. As he glanced back, the teen told police he saw the clown holding a kitchen knife.

Police said the 16-year-old then ran out of the station and Smith fled to "parts unknown."

At the time, an NYPD spokesman described the suspect as "wearing makeup, a multicolored outfit and large shoes."

Check out this video of the clown swiping into the East 96th Street station:

This guy gets a poor grade on his clown costume — one could easily say he bears a more striking resemblance to the Hamburglar.

A spokesman for the NYPD said dressing up as creepy clowns and threatening ordinary citizens has become the "in" thing among today's teens. Across the U.S. in recent weeks, clowns have been spotted chasing teens with knives(much like in Wednesday's incident), threatening middle schools, robbing convenience stores, popping out of wooded areas to throw sticks at people and more.

This is, however, the year's first creepy clown sighting on the Upper East Side, according to the NYPD.

Photo: NYPD