Philadelphia police asked for the public’s help Tuesday to find a person who they said donned a Chucky-style horror mask and “made threatening comments” while chasing a woman near City Hall last week.
The strange incident unfolded around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, when a 40-year-old female jogger in athletic wear “was chased by a masked offender” near 1500 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Philadelphia police said in a statement.
The masked person held a phone in front of the woman and repeatedly asked, “Are you ready to die?” police told NBC Philadelphia.
“The offender made threatening comments as they approached causing the complainant to stumble and sustain injury,” the police statement said.
Minutes earlier, the masked person had been spotted harassing pedestrians near 15th and Chestnut streets and being denied service at a Dunkin’ location, Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith told NBC Philadelphia.
The masked person, carrying a distinctive blue plaid backpack, was last seen ducking into SEPTA’s Suburban Station.
Police believe the masked person is a man who is about 5-feet-8 and 16 to 20 years old, “wearing a white baby doll style Halloween mask with black hair, and a black/blue plaid backpack,” according to the statement.
Investigators released video and images of the masked person.
The person was wearing a “Chucky doll Halloween-style face mask,” Smith said, referring to the killer doll from the “Child’s Play” horror movie franchise.
There had been no arrests as of early Tuesday afternoon.
Police warned in the statement that if “you see this suspect do not approach, contact 911 immediately.”
While no one was seriously injured in the incident, it had some similarities to a scary situation near St. Louis two weeks ago, in which a 15-year-old boy was accused of stabbing a 78-year-old man to death while dressed as a creepy clown.
The suspect was charged with murder in the killing of John Wesley Allen, whose body was found near a bus stop in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Allen, who lived in a retirement community in St. Louis, regularly took the bus to visit his sister in East St. Louis, family members said.
Shortly before the slaying, neighborhood doorbell video obtained by NBC affiliate KSDK showed a person dressed as a clown looking into the camera and saying, “I have a gift for you.”
Neighbors told the station that they saw the person going door to door with a large knife.
Add to GoogleDavid K. LiSenior Breaking News Reporter
Madison LambertMadison Lambert is an assignment editor at NBC News.
