Massapequa teen with clown costume arrested on weapon charges, police say

A Massapequa teen was arrested Tuesday and charged with criminal possession of a weapon after police found stun guns and a clown costume in his vehicle, Nassau County police said.

Police responded to a call  about a suspicious person in a vehicle on Peconic Drive in East Massapequa about 10:50 p.m. When officers approached the vehicle to interview Christopher Desousa, 17, they saw a clown costume and clown mask on the passenger seat, they said.

That led them to determine Desousa was the person involved in an incident the previous day at nearby John Burns Park, police said. In Monday’s incident, Desousa reportedly chased multiple minors with a stun gun while dressed as a clown. No injuries were reported.

Desousa was arrested after police searched the vehicle and found four stun guns and a blackjack, which police said is generally a lead-based baton.

Desousa  was charged with five counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He  was to be arraigned on Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead. 

Police asked that anyone who may have been a victim contact Nassau County police at 516-573-6753.

In 2016, reports of scary clown sightings spread across the country and the world, including on Long Island. The cases at the time, some of which led to arrests, generally involved menacing near wooded areas.