Cops: Woman Late for Work Invented Knife-Wielding Clown

Police say an 18-year-old Ohio woman lied about being attacked by a knife-wielding clown as an excuse for being late for her job at McDonald's, reports WCPO-TV. Police in the Cincinnati suburb of Reading say 18-year-old Alexsandra Conley said someone dressed like a clown jumped a fence Saturday, waved a knife at her, and cut her thumb. Cops noted that she was calm during a medical exam, as WCPO describes it, "even using her cellphone to access Facebook." Investigators subsequently found inconsistencies in Conley's story and charged her with making a false report, reports the AP. There have been several recent reports nationwide of frightening encounters involving clowns, some of them hoaxes, and Slate notes that such sightings make headlines every few years. (More clown stories.)