A Halloween candy conundrum that spooked an entire Maryland town turned out to be nothing more than a “hoax” created by a wily 9-year-old who stuffed a sewing needle inside a bag of their own candy, authorities said.
Police in Rockville, Maryland, advised families to “inspect all candy” on Halloween after receiving a report that a child found a needle in their Trick-or-Treating haul.
Authorities pinned the blame on a home somewhere in the area of Welsh Drive and W. Edmonston Drive and warned locals that two kids were given standard packages of gummy bears with a troubling surprise: a sewing needle embedded in the gelatin treats.
Police shared photos of silver sewing needles visible within two seemingly untouched bags of gummy bears.
But on Monday, the sheepish authorities had to walk back their reports and announced that the person behind the “hoax” wasn’t some homicidal mastermind after all.
“The incident was a hoax carried out by a 9-year-old child within the household where the report originated. The child admitted to placing sewing needles in two packages of gummy bears,” Rockville police wrote on Facebook.
Police explained that the child’s parents found the needles after using a magnet to check their candy haul, which snagged on the needle.
The 9-year-old confessed to planting the needles in the bags once they realized how much “public and media attention” the prank attracted,
There were no other incidents flagged on or after Halloween, indicating that any Trick-or-Treaters received candy that was “maliciously tampered” with, police said.
“This incident understandably raised concern within our community, and we are grateful that it did not present a broader threat to public safety. I commend the professionalism and diligence of our officers and detectives for their swift response, thorough investigation, and commitment to ensuring the facts of this case were fully uncovered,” Rockville City Police Department Chief Jason L. West said.
While authorities typically warn parents to keep an eye out for erroneous items in their children’s candy, including razor blades, they’ve shifted to instead instruct parents on how to tell the difference between regular treats and counterfeits containing recreational drugs, namely marijuana, since it was legalized.
Less than a week before Halloween, the Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory recalled heaps of its full-size Peanut Butter Crush and Ca$hew Cow bars, which may have contained undeclared cashews and peanuts, respectively.
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