Regina police receive third report of possibly tampered Halloween candy

Regina Police Service (RPS) said on Tuesday it had received a third report about Halloween candy that might have been tampered with.

Acting police chief Lorilee Davies said the latest report was received overnight and comes from the Glen Elm area.

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She said it described a “brass-coloured” object similar to a sewing needle that was found in a chocolate bar. The other two reports also described thin pieces of metal found within chocolate bars.

The first two reports came from parents who had children who went trick-or-treating in the Greens area in the southeast, and in the city’s northwest.

“The fact that it’s spread out throughout the city makes me think that it’s not something that’s targeted and specific to having kids eat a needle,” Davies said.

“It could potentially be something more like a manufacturing issue, but we certainly need to do some more digging into it.”

Davies urged people to closely examine candy before eating it and to keep the wrappers of candy that they suspect has been tampered with.

“The calls are all legitimate. We’ve had officers attend to all of the scenes — in some instances, the candy had already been disposed of, or the wrapper had already been disposed of,” Davies said.

The acting police chief said RPS is considering all possible options without jumping to conclusions. She stated that she doesn’t believe these incidents were targeted, pointing to many similar reports about objects found within Halloween candy across Canada over the last several years.

She also said that these were three reports among the thousands of pieces of candy that were distributed throughout the city on Halloween.

“Securing any additional evidence will be important for us to be able to figure that out. And then just the fact that it is spread out throughout the city,” Davies said.

“If it were in one specific area we had multiple reports, then clearly that would be something that would be a red flag for us, but because it has been spread out, I think that leads us to believe that maybe it was something more manufacturing-related.”

Davies said RPS has received no reports of injuries.

“I don’t want people to panic, I just want parents to be diligent in checking the candy, letting their kids know: ‘Hey, make sure you’re taking a look at your candy before you’re opening these chocolate bars’,” she said.

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