For youngsters, trick-or-treating is meant to be a time of harmless Halloween fun, but for one young girl it proved a far more traumatic experience when she was left hospitalised after eating a needle concealed in one of her sweets.
The 12-year-old had just got back from trick or treating in Northeast Heights in Albuquerque, New Mexico when she got the shock of her life after tucking into a Three Musketeers bar - inside the chocolate bar was a concealed needle over an inch long.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, she suffered injury to the roof of her mouth after the needle pricked her when she bit down, and was subsequently rushed to hospital by her mum, Christina Robinson. At the hospital she was taken to the emergency room and monitored for infectious diseases that could have been transmitted via the needle.
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Since then she has been released from hospital and police say she is doing well since the incident.
A spokesman from the Albuquerque Police department say they hope this is a 'stand-alone incident'.
Officer Simon Drobik said: "The main point is to make the city aware this happened. Hopefully, it's just a stand-alone incident but we want to make sure every family checks their kid's candy. It's pretty ridiculous. It's very cruel and this child got hurt, so it's very upsetting that that happened."
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The newspaper reported that Robinson had told police she saw people at the park handing out chocolate and sweets, but was unable to remember what they looked like - police have said they are unsure where the chocolate bar came from.
In the police report it was stated: "This seemed strange to her, but she also noted it was not the only car doing this. Christina said she and other members of the family immediately began to eat some of the candy from this family group in the car and none reported finding anything out of the ordinary."
Following DNA testing performed on the needle, no suspects were identified.
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LADbible have reached out to Mars, the company that produces the Thee Musketeers chocolate bar, for comment a spokesperson said: "Consumer safety is our top priority. Though we do not believe this occurred within our manufacturing processes, as always, we investigate consumer claims and follow up accordingly."
This isn't the only case where other objects were found in youngster's Halloween treats - in the UK a mum claimed she found a bag of ecstasy pills in her child's treat bag.
And police in Dublin, Georgia, in the US, sent out a warning to parents to check their children's sweet bags after reports that methamphetamine pills were given out resembling regular sweets.
Featured Image Credit: Albuquerque Police DepartmentTopics: Sweets, US News, halloween, Chocolate