Man reports clown sighting in Santa Barbara neighborhood

Daniel Shreiner got the scare of his life on Thursday when he drove through a Santa Barbara neighborhood at night.

“I saw a shadow. Somebody was jumping on the street,” said Daniel Shreiner, a tourist from Germany.

Shreiner was on Micheltorena Street. When he turned right onto Bath Street, he says a man wearing a clown mask jumped in front of his car.

“He tried to scare me to cause an accident and this is what happened. I knew I had to choose. Do I kill this guy because I couldn’t get on the brakes easily or do I go left and right into parked cars,” said Shreiner.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. Shreiner says he thought about reporting the incident to officers in the area, but he was afraid they wouldn’t believe them.

Reports of clown sightings seem to be growing by the day. In Santa Barbara, the school district confirms the hoax on social media has surfaced in the area. The Santa Barbara Unified School District is working closely with law enforcement to ensure the safety of students and staff.

A man who lives nearby the reported clown sighting location says he didn’t hear any commotion outside his house on Thursday night.

“The problem is when people get scared people get violent and people who dress up can get up themselves killed,” said Christian Vuceta.

A watch commander for the Santa Barbara Police Department says there has been no reports of any clown sightings in the area.