A 28-year-old man was arrested for intentionally ramming his car into a bicyclist in Santa Cruz while wearing a rubber clown mask, police said.

The case was no joke, investigators said — not only because of the seriousness of the violence, but because the cyclist was the victim of mistaken identity.

It all happened about 8:45 a.m. Sept. 24 when Jeremy Anecito, 28, while wearing a clown mask, “intentionally swerved and accelerated” in his Chevrolet pickup truck to hit a bicyclist on Soquel Avenue near Dakota Avenue, said Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark.

At one point, he drove on the wrong side of the road — his tires “squealing” — while aiming for the victim, authorities said.

The victim, a 39-year-old transient from the Santa Cruz area, was airlifted to a Bay Area hospital and is recovering, police said.

Officers reported finding the truck in the parking garage of the St. George Hotel — with a clown mask still inside — before locating Anecito in a hotel room. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Investigators determined that Anecito was trying to seek revenge but targeted the wrong person, police said.

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