Dutch teen seriously hurt in killer clown 'joke'

A 16-year-old girl was hospitalized with a broken arm, broken cheekbones and a concussion on Tuesday evening. She crashed her scooter at Nedereindseplas in Nieuwegein after she was scared by a so-called killer clown. A 24-year-old man was tracked down by the police, but is not being prosecuted. "He says that it was a joke among friends. He wanted to scare them and says that he did not even see the girl", police spokesperson Martin de Wit said to the Telegraaf.

The girl and a friend were heading home from horse riding on a scooter around 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday when a killer clown - a guy in a scary clown mask - suddenly appeared. According to the girl's mother, the clown chased after the girls. They fled and the scooter fell over. The girl hit the ground hard and lost consciousness.

"She fell in fear with her scooter and lay unconscious and badly wounded on the ground", her mother said to the newspaper. Her friend called the emergency services. "My daughter had to go to the hospital. Although she wore a helmet, her arm was broken, her cheekbones broken, she had a concussion and a lot of abrasions. She can hardly remember anything. It is really terrible, also for her friend."

The killer clown was on the road with at least two other young men. They were filmed by a surveillance camera on Muntplein in Nieuwegein. The footage clearly shows one of the young men wearing a scary clown mask.

"This is a very dumb thing to do. According to the boy, it really was a joke among friends and we can't prosecute him for that", police spokesperson De Wit said to the newspaper.

The victim's family will press charges and hire a personal injury lawyer. "I don't thin those guys know how much suffering they have caused", the girl's aunt said to the Telegraaf.