Halloween is a fun holiday for kids, and frankly an excuse for adults to eat as much candy as they want. But one family in Ohio learned the hard way that even though a lot of people in this world are good, there are also some people who are nasty.
Julia Pence, the mother of five-year-old Braylen Carwell, is now warning other parents to check the candy their kids get while trick or treating this year. After coming home from a Sunday afternoon trick-or-treating, Braylen began having a seizure.
"The left side of his face was just droopy and then he fell and then he couldn't move his left arm. And he didn't know where he was, he didn't know what he was doing," Pence recalled.
According to Braylen's father, the young boy had only eaten a couple pieces of candy, and then played with some toy vampire teeth before the seizure happened. Braylen was taken to the hospital, where doctors discovered he tested positive for methamphetamines.
Police collected all of Braylen's candy, and the fake teeth were sent to the Mansfield Police Department's crime lab to be tested for drugs. Luckily, Braylen is okay, but his mom says the young boy is still suffering from the effects of the methamphetamines.
"You can tell he is still coming down from it," said Pence. "Because one minute he is all hyper and the next minute he is tired."
Despite the scare, Pence is just happy her son is okay.
"So, I am counting my blessings that I got to bring my son home okay and alive last night," said Pence.
As for the police, they say they are looking in to the potentially tainted teeth and/or candy.
"Right now, there's nothing specific," said Galion Police Chief Brian Saterfield. "We need to narrow it down to see if there was in fact something that was tainted. It's good for us and the entire community right now that we don't have any other instances. We're certainly hopeful that that remains."
The police department also posted a warning about the potential dangers on their Facebook page.
As was posted a short time ago, an investigation has been started regarding a little boy getting sick tonight after Trick or Treat.We know that the area he was in was on the west side of town in the area of Arlington, Highland and Tidd. The little boy is being treated and is expected to make a full recovery.
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.
If you suspect that anything has been tampered with, please contact our department by phone so that an officer can stop and collect the items.
You may be wondering how Braylen was trick or treating days before it was actually Halloween, but it appears to have been part of a Trick or Treat event for kids, organized by the Galion Police Department.
[H/T: ABC6 On Your Side]