Lehighton police have charged three with disorderly conduct after a report of people wearing clown masks and carrying weapons.

Borough police officer Robert DeFuso said police were called to the area of the Fourth Street cemetery at 8:25 p.m. Sept. 25 for a report of three people dressed as clowns who were armed with baseball bats.Police were met by an off-duty Allentown police officer who spotted the suspects, DeFuso said. One of the suspects spotted the off-duty officer and lowered a bat, dragging one end of it on the ground as he advanced toward the off-duty officer and his family, he said.DeFuso said when the off-duty officer yelled that he was calling police, the suspects took off running, but the off-duty officer managed to follow one of them.All three were later taken into custody. A bat, a police-style baton and masks were recovered by police, he said.Those charged were Austin Miller, 21, of Second Street, Lehighton; Melanie Ross, 21, of Prospect Street, Weissport; and Christopher Vincent, 22, of Tobyhanna Street, Hopatcong, New Jersey.Miller was carrying a bat, and Ross a police-style baton. Both were wearing masks, he said.Vincent was not wearing a mask, nor did he have any weapons, DeFuso said.No injuries were reported from the incident, which took about three hours to get under control, he said.Assisting at the scene were Franklin and Mahoning township police, and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, DeFuso said.Clowns, a nationwide copycat phenomenon, have been spotted elsewhere in the region.On Sept. 24, at 9:20 p.m., it was reported to police that there were two people dressed as clowns in Ludlow Park.Police said two Summit Hill youths said they were just trying to scare their friends. They were given a stern warning and told to leave the park.A sighting of someone dressed as a clown in the Skyline Drive area of Franklin Township on Sept. 23 resulted in a 90-minute search of the area but nothing was found.Township police said they received the report around 8:30 p.m. after a resident of that area observed the suspicious person at the rear of the family’s property. The resident quickly ran into the home to tell another family member and police were alerted.Franklin Township police said they are taking the situation seriously.Officers from Mahoning Township, Palmerton and the Lehighton barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police joined in searching the area. The area had a tree farm nearby, cornfields and woodlands.The resident described the suspicious person as “dressed as a clown,” police said. The resident reported the person was not wearing a mask, but, rather, had his or her face painted white with a red nose.Reports of suspicious clowns also came from Nesquehoning and Brodheadsville.Additionally, police said there was a report out of Schuylkill County that someone dressed as a clown had attempted to lure kids into a vehicle. And, nationally, reports of clowns performing criminal acts, such as breaking into homes, have surfaced.