Police attended a Turnbull St house after 4pm last Tuesday when a teenager reported being terrorised by a person dressed as a clown.
The victim, Cee-Jay Higgan, told the Otago Daily Times the incident occurred shortly after she arrived home from Kaikorai Valley College last Tuesday.
The 16-year-old heard banging at her door while getting changed in her bedroom.
''I started getting a bit freaked out,'' she said.
She approached the front door of her Brockville home and ''all I could see was a clown at the door holding an axe''.
She locked all the doors to the house.
About 20 minutes later the costumed person returned, firstly with one other person dressed as a clown and shortly after with two others and began banging on the door again.
When the noise stopped she exited her room and saw the group had made their way down the side of the house to a back sliding glass door.
''They said: 'I'm going to kill you','' she said.
''One of them had a knife and there was another one with an axe. One of them was in this checkered kind of top and the rest were in clown colours.''
They all wore masks.
''When there was no knocking or anything I looked out my window and saw them running down the road to the community garden,'' Cee-Jay said.
She called police and remained in her room until her grandmother arrived home about 4pm.
The incident had left her shaken. She does not know why she was targeted or who was behind the incident.
A police spokeswoman said police attended but were unable to find any of those involved.
News of the incident followed the arrest of a 22-year-old in Dunedin's student quarter on Sunday night. The man was dressed as a clown and frightening students in Castle St.
The ''creepy clown'' craze has been linked to threats and violence in the United States, Australia and Britain. A Hamilton woman was attacked by two men dressed as clowns this month.
The police spokeswoman said she hoped Sunday's arrest provided a wake-up call to those performing the pranks. Police wanted the incidents to stop.
''We just need the fad to go away now,'' she said.
