TORONTO — A Toronto-area clown is being hailed as a hero for shielding two women in his vehicle after he allegedly spotted them being attacked by a man in a “rampage” in downtown Toronto on the weekend.
Shane Farberman, also known as Doo Doo the Clown, was driving home from a performance on Front Street near Bathurst Street on Sunday at about 3 p.m. when he spotted a barefoot man wearing only shorts and a t-shirt leaping on the hood of cars.
Faberman told Global News he appeared “out of control” and called 911.
Following a brief pursuit, which was filmed on his vehicle’s dashcam, Faberman said he saw the man push a woman on the street.
It was at that point Faberman screamed at the two women to enter his vehicle with his two other clown colleagues in the back seat.
After police arrived, Faberman said it took eight police officers to subdue the man.
Toronto police said 25-year-old Wei Guo has been charged with two counts of assault and one count of mischief under $5,000.
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“We were advised that he struck the woman, what we later found out was that he had struck several witnesses by either punching or pushing and furthermore had physically struck several vehicles,” Const. Victor Kwong said, adding that he was in a “rampage.”
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“The reports that we’re getting is that they were completely unprovoked, random attacks. It was pretty much anyone who had crossed paths with him and if he decided to lash out he would and in fact in a couple of the instances he actually turned around to come back to attack people.”
Kwong said officers initially thought the man was undergoing a “medical issue” and he was taken to hospital for observation.
Police later determined the suspect was “suffering from the side effects of illegal narcotics.”
“There were more witnesses that had come forward, more victims especially, but some of the victims have decided that they don’t want to proceed with anything,” Kwong said.
Since the incident, Faberman has been overwhelmed by attention he has received from around the world and as far away as Australia.
“I don’t know much about social media, but I’ve had 12,000 hits overnight,” says Farberman.
Doo Doo the Clown said he’s been practicing his craft for 32 years and has appeared on children’s television programming on several networks including making an appearance in the hit movie Billy Madison with Adam Sandler.
With files from Adam Miller
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