Friday, November 1, 2013

Tampered Treats (Halloween, 2013)




WDJT-TV [Milwaukee, WI]
23 October 2013


by John Cuoco

MILWAUKEE- Hiding drugs in candy appears to be a growing trend and the Wisconsin Poison center is warning parents about it.

They said that candy, specifically suckers and toffee, is being melted down and laced with crushed prescription drugs or powered illicit drugs.

Stimulants such as amphetamines have been discovered in the "treats".

The idea is that the candy makes the drug hard to detect. […]


Lebanon Daily News [PA]
28 October 2013


The Associated Press

WEST CHESTER, Pa.—Campus police say they've found 40 pounds of drug-laced candy at state-owned West Chester University.

The Chester County district attorney's office announced the seizure Monday and says charges will be filed after lab tests confirm the candy contains THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Deputy District Attorney Patrick Carmody says there's no indication students planned to distribute the candy to children for Halloween. Authorities believe the candy was meant to be shared and sold among university students. […]


KDKA-TV [Pittsburgh, PA]
28 October 2013



Ralph Iannotti

SCOTTDALE (KDKA) — In Westmoreland County a small, razor-like blade was discovered in a package of M&M candies by a trick-or-treater.

It was given to 12-year-old Matthew Hernley, when he was out trick-or-treating with some of his friends Sunday afternoon. […]


Nashua Telegraph [NH]
1 November 2013


Dean Shalhoup

NASHUA – The razor blade found in a bad of candy turned out to be the blade from a broken pencil sharpener inside a child’s backpack.

Nashua Sgt. Randy Dumais says the boy was using his school backpack to collect Halloween candy. After talking to the boy, police determined the blade came from the broken sharpener. […]


TB News Watch [Thunder Bay, ON]
1 November 2013


By tbnewswatch.com

City police are investigating a report of a sewing needle being found in Halloween treats.

Officials with the Thunder Bay Police Service report that the complainant’s children went out trick or treating in the Kakabeka Falls Village. When the children returned home their candy was checked and the needle was discovered. […]


NBC4 Washington [DC]
1 November 2013

Authorities believe this is an isolated incident

Authorities in Calvert County, Md., say they received a report of a sewing needle found inside the wrapper of a Hershey's chocolate bar.

The report came from the St. Leonard area. The sheriff's office said around mid-day Friday that they believe this is an isolated incident. […]


Times Herald [Port Huron, MI]
1 November 2013


A wrapped insulin needle found in a bag of Halloween candy in Algonac appears to have gotten there accidentally, according to a press release from the St. Clair County Sheriff Department. […]


WJHG-TV [Panama City Beach, FL]
1 November 2013


LYNN HAVEN - Panama City Beach police say a child lied about finding a razor blade in a piece of Halloween candy.

When a Lynn Haven girl got home from trick-or-treating in Panama City Beach, she unwrapped a Snickers bar and bit into it. She told her mom there was a piece of a razor blade inside. […]


Observer-Dispatch [Utica, NY]
1 November 2013


CAMDEN — Camden police are investigating the instance of a razor blade found in a child’s bag of Halloween candy.

Police received a complaint Thursday night about a utility razor blade that had been found amongst a child’s candy, according to the Camden police Facebook page.

Nobody was injured and the razor appears as though it was dropped into the bag, not put into any candy, police said. […]







Brockville Recorder [ON]
1 November 2013


By Ronald Zajac, Recorder and Times

A 15-year-old boy ended up with a needle in his lip after biting into a piece of candy on Halloween night, city police reported Friday

The candy had apparently been bought at a local store and was not acquired during trick-or-treating, added Insp. Scott Fraser. […]


WPXI-TV [Pittsburgh, PA]
1 November 2013


SHALER, Pa. — A western Pennsylvania school issued a warning after a drug discovery inside a child's Halloween candy bag.

Officials called parents to tell them that an elementary student found a pill with candy obtained during a class Halloween party. […]

Dr. Wesley Shipley, the district superintendent, confirmed to Channel 11 News that a Lexapro pill was found in one child's candy bag. Lexapro is a prescription drug used to treat depression. […]


KOLO-TV [Reno, NV]
1 November 2013


Tonja Hamilton says she was angry and terrified when she discovered what looked like prescription pain medication in with her son's Halloween candy. She says they were in a waded up pharmacy bag, about 10 pills with a lollipop. Police arrived quickly after she reported the shocking discovery. "He said he looked them up and said that they were just vitamins," explains Hamilton[.] […]
 



The Salinas Californian
2 November 2013


Written by Allison Gatlin

A 32-year-old Salinas woman may have experienced an unwanted acid trip at the hands of tainted Halloween candy, according to Salinas police Cmdr. Dave Crabill.

The woman, who hasn’t been identified, was trick-or-treating with her children and friends between 5:40 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday evening in the Creekbridge neighborhood. […]


KSBW-TV
2 November 2013

Candy bar came from Creek Bridge neighborhood on Halloween, family says


KRNV-TV [Reno, Nevada]
1 November 2013


FERNLEY, Nev. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) - The Lyon County Sheriff's Department said today investigators believe a report of tainted Halloween candy from the Southwest Meadows subdivision is an isolated case confined to one child and two pieces of candy in the child's trick or treat bag.

Law enforcement was called around 7:30 Halloween night after Acting Lt. Shawn Clanton said, "It was store bought candy and one of them had a piece of plastic in it which was taken out by the child.  The child ate the candy anyway.  The other piece of candy had a stick pin in it." […]


Global BC [Canada]
1 November 2013


By Amy Judd
Global News

It’s a reminder to check the candy your kids brought home from Halloween trick-or-treating yesterday.

Langley resident Tanya Verbeek says her brother-in-law found a pin in her nieces’s KitKat bar. […]


WLWT-TV [Cincinnati, OH]
2 November 2013

Authorities confirm Facebook post was hoax

AMELIA, Ohio —After a rumor spread on Facebook, many were worried that some candy had been tampered with and passed out during trick-or-treating Friday in an Amelia neighborhood.

According to Amelia police, the post was a hoax.

Concerned residents reached out to police and WLWT Saturday because of the following Facebook post:

"any one that took your kids to Amelia (Quail Creek) PLEASE check your kids candy REALLY GOOD! Candy that was in wrappers like Tootsie rolls, gum and smarties, had something put in them that put 6 kids in Clermony Mercy ER!"

Police said representatives with the local hospitals have confirmed no such cases have been reported.

After confirming that the post was untrue, police said they tracked down the person who created the original post and ordered them to remove it. […]


Hannibal Courier-Post [MO]
2 November 2013



Like countless parents around the country, Amber Dolbeare of New London took her children trick or treating Thursday night. Dolbeare claims her youngsters were given candy containing poison during one of their stops in Hannibal.

Dolbeare didn’t pay much attention to the candy her youngsters had been given until her son brought to her a Snickers bar that he had just bitten into. Hanging out of the candy bar was a light green pellet, approximately a quarter inch in length.

“When I pulled it out, it looked like rat poison,” said Dolbeare. […]





KOAT-TV [Albuquerque, NM]
1 November 2013

Some children brought home chocolate, others anti-abortion messages

By Regina Ruiz


KOB-TV [Albuquerque, NM]
1 November 2013


By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4

You’re thinking about a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or maybe some Junior Mints, and right there in your pile of Halloween candy comes a message straight from the abortion rights battlefield. That’s the unexpected treat a few Albuquerque trick-or-treaters got Thursday night – a message from the Right to Life movement, just in time for the city’s special abortion rights election.

“I am not a clump of cells,” the card with an image of a fetus proclaims. “I am a human being.” Another one asks “Am I not human?” […]


Imperial Valley Press [El Centro, CA]
2 November 2013

Valley Police Beat: Needle found among child’s Halloween candy

El Centro

Needle found among child’s Halloween candy

A small diabetic needle in its packaging was discovered in the candy bag of young girl in the 400 block of Orange Avenue at 7 p.m. Friday, according to El Centro police logs. The needle was disposed of at the police station by the child’s mother.


Global BC [Canada]
3 November 2013


By Yuliya Talmazan

The RCMP in Prince Rupert are urging parents to examine their children’s Halloween candy after a metal pin was discovered in a chocolate bar by a vigilant parent on Friday.

Brenna Stanley found a metal pin in a Coffee Crisp chocolate bar that one of her three children brought home after going trick-or-treating in their neighbourhood. […]


Press-Enterprise [Riverside, CA]
3 November 2013


by Nikie Johnson

A Moreno Valley child who showed symptoms of ingesting illegal drugs may have been sickened by eating Halloween candy that was tampered with, according to sheriff’s officials. […]
 



The Tennessean
5 November 2013


Written by Andy Humbles

Lebanon’s Jerri Chaney describes herself as a little overprotective with her 6-year-old daughter.

That’s why she checked the candy her daughter collected trick-or-treating Friday. She never expected to find anything dangerous.

But the bag revealed part of a loose razor blade when it was dumped out on Chaney’s bed. Lebanon police are investigating how it got there along with a separate complaint about a sewing needle discovered inside a Tootsie Roll collected in a nearby area on Lebanon’s west side. […]


CTV Saskatoon [Saskatchewan, Canada]
5 November 2013


Trick-or-treaters in Martensville might not want to eat the red ones last.

Police are now investigating allegations that someone in Martensville handed out boxes of Halloween candy with cat feces in them.

Eleven-year-old Shamus Sawatsky says when he opened up a box of Smarties after a night of trick-or-treating, he found cat feces inside. […]