Investigation into reports of a boy wearing a clown costume in the area of Highway 48 and Sam Powell Dairy Road has led to robbery charges being lodged against the juvenile, according to the Roanoke Rapids Police Department.

Chief Bobby Martin said in a statement, the robberies involved the theft of pizzas in July and November.

Martin said investigation of a person wearing a clown costume in the area led to the boy’s arrest.

He said Sergeant Gorton Williams, who initially investigated the report of a person dressed as a clown and reportedly throwing items and jumping in and out of traffic, recalled there had been unsolved robberies in that area.

He passed the information onto Detective Hayden Marshall who found enough evidence to file charges against the teen.

The juvenile wearing the clown costume is one of two sought in separate strong armed robberies, Martin said in the statement. He has been charged with two counts of common law robbery.

On July 1, two juveniles placed an order for a pizza at Domino's. A fake name was given along with a Rebecca Street address. 

The juveniles walked to the Rebecca Street address and waited for the delivery driver. 

When the delivery driver arrived, the juveniles waved her over to the yard. As she proceeded to the yard, the two juveniles snatched the pizza and ran. 

The delivery driver got in her car and drove to the end of Rebecca Street to observe the suspects’ direction of travel. She witnessed the suspects running south through backyards towards Sam Powell Dairy Road.

On November 15, a juvenile placed an order for two medium pizzas at Domino's. 

When placing the order the juvenile gave a fake name and a false address on Rebecca Street. The juvenile walked to Rebecca Street around the time the pizzas were supposed to be delivered and waited for the delivery driver. 

When the delivery driver arrived, the juvenile asked to see the pizzas to make sure they were right. When the driver began to hand over the pizzas, the juvenile snatched them and ran.

“These two crimes were solved due to officers working together and conducting a thorough investigation,” Martin said in the statement. “Officer C. Batchelor, when the clown incident first occurred, assisted Detective G. Williams in identifying the suspect. Through this investigation Detective H. Marshall was able to identify the juvenile as a suspect in two strong arm robberies.”  

Martin said there has been no evidence thus far any vehicles were damaged when the juvenile was reportedly throwing items at vehicles. It hasn’t been determined what kind of items were thrown.

The juvenile was not dressed as a clown during the robberies, Martin said.