Chainsaw-Wielding Clown Found Guilty After Two-Day Trial

Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon announced today that a 35-year-old Albany man who was wearing a clown mask and carrying a chainsaw in a Cohoes neighborhood has been found guilty after a two-day jury trial.

A jury convicted Craig Wolcott Wednesday afternoon of Menacing in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of Weapon in the Third Degree for a May 1 incident that took place on Lancaster Street.

Assistant District Attorney Bryanne Brucato, Bureau Chief of the Street Crimes Unit, who was aided by trial assistant Ashley Rizzo, called on four witnesses and relied on video surveillance footage that captured Wolcott walking up the street and holding a red chainsaw that day.

The video also showed that Wolcott was wearing a clown mask when a local resident confronted him.

The two men engaged in a verbal argument when Wolcott pulled a plastic sheath off the chainsaw and raised it in a threatening manner. The two men fought, and the resident was able to subdue Wolcott until police arrived.

Police responded that day at 2:40 p.m. for reports of a fight between two men. Police later found Wolcott to be in possession of metal knuckles. Wolcott did not take the stand, and his attorneys Eric Kauppila and Ava Agree did not call any witnesses. The jury deliberated for two hours before returning the verdict.

Wolcott faces an indeterminate term of two and a third to seven years in state prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 6.