BOARDMAN, OH (WKBN/CNN) – Police say a father wore a clown mask and chased his 6-year-old daughter around the neighborhood, resulting in gunfire from a neighbor.
Vernon Barrett Jr. says he was trying to discipline his daughter by putting on a clown mask and chasing her through the neighborhood, according to a police report.
Police say the 6-year-old girl jumped into a stranger’s car and then ran down the street and into a stranger’s apartment. She reportedly screamed to the family in the apartment that a clown was chasing her.
When the family looked out the window and saw the girl’s father wearing the clown mask, authorities say Dion Santiago fired a gunshot into his yard but missed Barrett.
Barrett was charged with child endangerment and inducing panic while Santiago was charged with using weapons while intoxicated, the report says.
Police say Barrett claimed the girl’s mother is serving jail time for child endangerment after being convicted of breaking four of the girl’s ribs.
Barrett said his daughter was having behavioral issues, and he decided to scare her as discipline instead of spanking because of what her mother did, according to the report.
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