The point of the video, the book chapter, and the many blog posts is that pretty much every single story turns out to be either (1) a hoax, (2) inconsequential, or (3) actually a danger from within the home. All also focused on poisonings, not needles, but physical tampering is mostly overblown as well.
Joel Best’s research found many, many news stories. The thing was that when he followed up on them, they all turned out to be (1), (2), or (3). But the reporting of those follow-up investigations never makes the splash the original stories did.
Yes, there were some reports out of Philadelphia. At least one has already been found to be a hoax:
At least one of the reports of tainted Halloween candy in the Philadelphia region this weekend has been determined to be false.
A man in Gloucester Township has been charged with making a false police report after allegedly faking the tampered candy bars. Meanwhile, police in other jurisdictions say they are continuing to investigate reports of needles and pins found in candy.
Gloucester Township police said 37-year-old Robert Ledrew reported that he found needles in four separate pieces of trick-or-treating candy.
Prior to calling police, he posted photos of one of the alleged needles on social media.
The Facebook and Twitter shares are likely what some people are looking for. I’m just saying.
Anyway, I will continue to monitor these reports after Halloween, as I always do. If any turn into actual arrests or confirmed crimes, I’ll let you know.
For the record, at least three kids were killed by cars on Saturday night while trick-or-treating. More were injured.
P.S. The Auburn, MA story appears to be a hoax, too.
P.P.S. The Gloucester Township, NJ story was a hoax.
P.P.P.S. The report of “pot-laced” candy in Hebron, OH was a hoax.
P.P.P.P.S. The Brainerd, MN story was a hoax.
P.P.P.P.P.S. The Indiana County razor blade story was a hoax.
