MELANIE ANZIDEI

@melanieanzidei

The creepy-clown phenomenon has produced its first North Jersey case of bona-fide trouble, as police say a pickup truck filled with teenagers, some wearing frightening clown masks, followed and taunted a female motorist for 20 miles, resulting in a summons against the driver and unrelated charge against a passenger.

The early Wednesday incident began in Butler and, by the female motorist's account to police, nearly caused an accident with the pickup before the latter vehicle was pulled over by a Fair Lawn patrol officer in Paramus.

The victim, a 24-year-old from Hawthorne, said she had been driving her Hyundai Elantra on Route 23 South in Butler around 1 a.m. Wednesday when a black Toyota Tundra pulled up next to her and two occupants wearing clown masks and hanging outside the vehicle started yelling, said Sgt. Brian Metzler of the Fair Lawn Police Department.

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“You can imagine at 1 a.m., you see that and get startled,” said Metzler.

The victim, who was with a 25-year-old passenger from North Haledon, slammed on her brakes when the incident first occurred, then continued driving and called 9-1-1. The victims said they were unsure if the occupants of the truck, hanging out of the right side passenger windows of the pickup, were holding anything in their hands during the encounter. State Police and Wyckoff Police then issued an alert to surrounding areas.

The pickup continued to follow the victim's vehicle from Route 23 in Butler to Route 287 North, then onto Route 208 South until Fair Lawn Police Officer Luis Vasquez located the Toyota on Route 4 East in Paramus. Vasquez, with assistance from Paramus Police and State Police, initiated a motor vehicle stop, and officers found two clown masks inside the vehicle.

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They also allegedly found marijuana and a knife on one of the passengers, 18-year-old Conner Moreno of Lodi.

Moreno was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and released. The driver, 19-year-old Cortney Thissen of Fair Lawn, received a traffic summons for reckless driving. The other passengers - two 18-year-old males from Saddle Brook and Hackensack and a 19-year-old female from Hasbrouck Heights - were released at the scene without charges.

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The two passengers who wore clown masks, Moreno and the 18-year-old Saddle Brook male, who was not identified because he was not charged, told police they only waved their hands at the victims as they hung out of the vehicle.

According to Metzler, the occupants of the pickup and the victims do not know each other, eliminating the possibility that the incident was a prank among friends. The victims could opt to file criminal complaints in Butler, because it is the jurisdiction where the incident occurred, he said.

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Despite heightened concerns of creepy-clown activity across the country, Metzler said this is the only clown-related incident in the Fair Lawn area that he is aware of.

“I believe it's just an isolated incident,” he said. “It was more of young adults not using their heads.”

Email: anzidei@northjersey.com; Twitter: @melanieanzidei