As Halloween has increased in popularity in Chile, it has become more than a good day for kids and candy manufacturers. The Chilean media (El Mercurio, LUN, Teletrece, etc) reported a very peculiar Halloween crime. At the Casino Monticello, a 27-year-old man dressed up as a clown, assaulted a cashier, and stole a bunch of money.

Sorry, no picture of the clown suit! Photo via emol.com

The following is a translation of an article in El Mercurio, November 1, 2011. 

One subject took advantage of the Halloween celebration to perpetrate an assault on the Casino Monticello, in the Sixth Region, using a clown costume.

The act occurred close to 4:30 in the morning, in the game salon on the premises, where the individual intimidated one of the bingo cashiers and obtained $6 million pesos (about 11 976 U.S. dollars.)

Later he fled through an emergency exit and dispersed a few shots with a blank gun to prevent them from following him.

The act caused fear among those in attendance, though no one was injured.

Following the attack, police, in coordination with the venue’s security personnel, detained the suspect, who was transferred to the commissary of Graneros.

According to Casino Monticello, the entire stolen amount was recuperated.

I saw on TV last night that the clown-thief is a 27-year-old father of two, severely in debt. He blamed his bad economic situation as his motivation for the crime.