Police are warning parents to check their kids’ Halloween candy after a 5-year-old boy was hospitalized and found to have methamphetamine in his system after trick-or-treating in his Ohio town.
According to local reports, Braylen Carwell suffered a seizure shortly after returning from collecting Halloween candy from his neighborhood in Galion, Ohio.
He was taken to hospital, where a urine test revealed methamphetamine in his system.
Police have sent his candy to a crime lab for testing.
“We currently have an open case in reference to a question as to whether there was some candy given out in Galion that may have been ‘laced’ with something,” said Galion police in a statement on Oct. 28.
The boy is expected to make a full recovery, according to police.
The dad said his son had only had a few of pieces of candy and was playing with some sort of fake teeth, according to local media reports.
According to 10TV, the boy said he did not eat any of the candy, but he put a set of vampire teeth in his mouth.
‘I’m Not Covering Up the Truth’
The boy’s mother, Julia Pence, said that she and his father are both recovering drug addicts, according to 10TV, but are now both clean.
She says she’s been clean for more than three years.
She told 10TV there was no way Braylen might have come in contact with meth that wasn’t from trick-or-treating.
“I’m not covering up the truth,” she said. “I’m just speaking the truth of what happened to my son, yesterday. Nobody in my family or [Braylen’s] dad’s family would drug my children.”
Her son didn’t realize what was happening, telling 10TV that he started to “shiver” as he put on his socks, before finding that he then couldn’t move his arm.
Galion police are investigating the incident, but have not identified any specific suspect. In the meantime, they are encouraging local parents to be vigilant.
Galion police said in a statement, “Please check your children’s candy that was received today while trick or treating. Also, please check any non-candy items such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, or fake teeth.”
Chief Brian Saterfield told Crawford County Now that many things contain different types of methamphetamines, including prescription medication and attention deficit and hyperactive medications.
Nearly All Such Cases Turn Out to Be Nothing
Saterfield said no other reports of a similar nature have been made since Galion’s trick-or-treat event ended.
“Certainly, a 5-year-old with methamphetamines in their system isn’t right,” Saterfield said. “We are looking into all avenues.”
Stories of random Halloween candy-tampering surface at this time of year, with stories of poison, drugs, razor blades, pins, and needles making their way into goodie bags.
But according to fact-checking organisation Snopes, they seldom turn out to be what they appear.
Snopes says, “While documented cases of such tampering are rare (and in the case of poison, non-existent), these rumors persist, in part, because every year numerous cases of suspected candy tampering are reported by the news media in the days immediately following Halloween.”
According to Snopes, “nearly all such cases turn out to be nothing”.
In the main they are pranks, false reports by attention-seekers, materials that accidentally end up in children’s goodie bags, or people who just happen to fall ill after going trick-or-treating.
