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There have been recent reports in several states, including Ohio, of people dressing in creepy clown costumes and then scaring others.

(Lisa DeJong, Plain Dealer file photo)

FRANKLIN, Ohio -- A Dayton-area woman called police Wednesday after she reportedly was chased by a person dressed as a clown, the latest in an odd phenomenon that has been occurring nationwide.

The woman told police she was entering her apartment building when the clown ran toward her, according to the Journal-News. The clown made no threats and the woman was not injured.

"I just got home from work and got out of my car -- I have heard so much about this, I didn't know this was actually true -- but I just got chased by a clown up to the door of my apartment," the woman tells police in the phone call.

Franklin police issued a news release Wednesday discouraging people from dressing as clowns to frighten others, saying it is "childish and could be dangerous," the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

This is not the first clown encounter in Ohio. According to 10tv.com in Columbus, there have been reports in Mansfield, Galion, Lancaster, Newark, Marion, and Guernsey County.

In Greenville, Ohio, a man on Tuesday says he was chased by two people in clown outfits and says he was hit in the neck and side, the Journal-News reports. The clowns reportedly took a baseball bat he was carrying.

Nationally, there also have been incidents in Wisconsin, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Virginia, Florida, Maryland and Tennessee, the Enquirer reports.

WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati reports many parents in Gallatin County, Ky., kept their children home from school Tuesday after a clown threat. The county's sheriff tells WCPO he has consulted with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security in response to the threat.

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