Toddler Injured By Possibly-Tampered Halloween Candy in Groton

Police warning parents in the area to throw out candy unless it came from a trusted source

City of Groton police are looking into a report of candy that had possibly been tampered with that was handed out to a toddler on Halloween Tuesday night.

A mother called police to say her 1-year-old child suffered a finger injury while handling the candy. The child was taken to a medical facility. Stitches were not required but the child's skin had to be glued together, according to Groton police.

The mother reported the incident to police at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

“(The mom) went into the candy bag and found some item of some kind – we’re not sure exactly what – kind of lodged into one of the candies,” said Lt. Eric Jenkins.

Jenkins said the mom inadvertently misplaced that piece of candy, but investigators found a second piece of candy in the family's candy bag with a piece of thin metal hidden in the wrapper of a "fun size" Snickers bar.

“Thinner than, let’s say, a razor blade. It’s very thin. Probably a half inch long. But it’s a piece of metal,” Jenkins said.

Investigators have not yet been able to determine where the candy came from, police said.

Police are now canvassing the neighborhood between Benham Road, Hynes Avenue, Brandegee Avenue and Morse Avenue looking for the original, possibly tampered with piece of candy and going door-to-door asking residents if they know anything about it.

“Honestly in 40 years I’ve never heard of anything like that happening,” said Deborah Dewolf of Groton.

Police knocked on her door after the reported incident. Dewolf raised kids in the neighborhood.

“It’s very concerning because my niece has a 10-month-old that was living with us and he would have been out (trick-or-treating),” she said.

Police are urging parents in Groton to throw away any candy received unless they know it came from a trusted source. As of Wednesday morning, police say they have only identified the one family who was a victim in this case, but are asking parents to check their children's candy closely and alert police to anything suspicious.

Officers from both the Patrol and Detective Divisions are conducting an "aggressive" investigation into the incident.

Jenkins said this is the first time he’s seen something like this in 29 years with the department.

“Is it just this one candy? Is it several different candies? Did it happen at the factory? Did it happen during packaging,” Jenkins asked.

NBC Connecticut did make contact with the mom involved. She wanted to remain anonymous but thanks Groton Police for their diligence and warns all parents to carefully check each piece of candy before their child touches it.

NBC Connecticut also reached out to Mars, who makes Snickers, about the incident but have not received a response at the time this article was published.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call City of Groton Police at 860-445-2451.

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