Police in Cary, N.C., report that they got a call from a nervous bank manager who saw a man dressed as a clown pacing back and forth in front of the bank.

The clown was wearing a wig with curly purple and fire-engine-red hair, a fake red nose, a many-colored suit put together like a patchwork quilt, huge orange and green clown shoes, and he was wearing large, gold rimmed glasses with flashing lights. He also carried a toy horn. No gun was seen.

That all looked innocent enough, but there were no birthday parties at the bank that day, so the manager was suspicious. That’s why he called the Cary police and told them what he saw. Moments later the clown was gone.

The police radio dispatcher puts out an all-points, notifying cars on patrol about the "clown sighting." Even cops with no sense of humor laugh at the prospect of a clown "lurking" in front of a bank.

An hour goes by with no more suspicious activity. That’s when a second bank, six blocks away from the first bank, activates their "silent alarm."

A patrol car nearest the signaling bank takes the call. The officers radio headquarters asking them to telephone the bank and have them unlock the employee door at the rear of the bank. One cop goes toward the front and the other goes down the alley toward the back, hoping to seal off any attempt to escape.

Peeking through the front window, a cop sees the clown standing in front of the teller stations. He has something poking out from under his clown suit. Telling the ladies he has a gun, the clown goes on with the usual bank robber’s tough-guy routine about a stickup.

It turns out the "thing" under the clown suit is the funny horn. There is no gun but the clown still gets 10 years for bank robbery.