MIDDLETOWN, Indiana — Police in Middletown issued a warning to parents late Tuesday that a substance found in a trick-or-treater's bag tested positive for methamphetamine.
"I didn't want to make everybody scared, but on the same hand, I wanted every single parent in this town to check those bags and make sure it didn't happen somewhere else," Middletown Police Chief Landon Dean said.
The department said a parent brought the small substance to the police station Tuesday night after the drug was found in the candy bag of a 4-year-old. 13News spoke with police Wednesday, who clarified the substance found inside the trick-or-treater's bag was in the form of a wet, rock-like substance — not in a pill.
"They thought it was a wet pill, and they were worried about it, and they called our dispatch center so our office could test it," Dean said. "It was in the bottom of the bag when the candy was dumped out, the substance fell out with the candy."
In a social media post, the department said, "Attention Parents! Check your kid’s Halloween candy bags closely. A parent found a small pill in a trick or treat bag and brought it to the police station. The pill given to us tested positive for methamphetamine. If you find something, please don’t handle it with your bare hands. Call the police department if you locate anything suspicious."
"Easiest way to think of it is that it's a stimulate, so it increases all the activity of your body," IU Health poison expert Dr. Blake Froberg said of methamphetamine.
Froberg said ingesting meth can seriously harm young children.
"Somebody can become very agitated, their heart rate, blood pressure, their temperature could go up," Froberg said.
The police chief said the unusual find comes as his department works to crack down on drug trafficking. In fact, their last arrest for possession of meth was two weeks ago — a trend he doesn't want impacting families.
"I just hope that it fell in the bag or somehow it got in there by mistake," Dean said. "I would hope to think that someone wasn't mean enough to put it in there on purpose."
Middletown is roughly 50 miles northeast of downtown Indianapolis.