Cops: Child, 4, abandoned for hours during parents' clown prank

MENASHA, Wisc. — A Wisconsin couple was charged with child neglect after they allegedly left their 4-year-old home alone and went out dressed up like clowns around 2:30 a.m. Friday, reports CBS affiliate WDJT.

That morning, Menasha police responded to reports of people wearing clown masks chasing after vehicles in the area. When they arrived, they found two men and a woman, who had allegedly been driving them from place to place for the prank. 

Police said one of the male suspects, age 29, and the 26-year-old woman have a 4-year-old child, who was left unattended at home for at least a few hours, so the couple could do the prank.

The child is now in state custody, and the couple has been charged with child neglect. 

The other male suspect, 20, was not charged.

The arrests come after a rash of pranks around the country that have involved eerie clown sightings and alleged hoaxes called in to police in the weeks since Aug. 21, when children in South Carolina said clowns offered them money and flashed lasers while trying to lure them into nearby woods.