Two arrested after Moorhead middle schoolers eat THC candy
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The parents of the child who brought what is believed to be THC-laced candy to a Moorhead middle school have been arrested following a search warrant, according to a statement from the department.
Twelve students at a Moorhead middle school got sick Monday after eating the candy. The Moorhead Police Department said in a statement that two of the students from Horizon Middle School were sent to a medical facility and the rest were sent home.
A search warrant executed Wednesday morning led to the arrest of the parents
“Investigators recovered prohibited amounts of suspected THC products in the form of flower, cartridges, and wax, along with psychedelic mushrooms and large amounts of cash,” the department said.
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The parents were each charged with a first-degree felony and have been taken to Clay County Jail, and multiple juveniles residing in the home have been referred to Clay County Social Services.
A police spokesperson told MPR News Tuesday that officers believe the candy contained THC, the main compound in cannabis that gets people high, because of the students' reactions when observed by officers and medical personnel.
The department said in an earlier statement that the students involved were not cooperating with investigators. In a press conference Wednesday morning, Police Chief Chris Helmick said that changed.
“I think, initially, what happened was kids were maybe afraid to talk, or, you know, the common occurrence with middle-aged kids is they don't want to be a narc,” he said. “But over time, with the parents' help, we were able to get some more information from those kids to help further the investigation.”
Jessica Tellinghuisen’s niece was one of the students that consumed the candy. She said her niece had no idea that the candy had THC in it.
“Her friend just had came up and said, 'Do you want some candy?’ It was like a sour strip, and she took it.” she said. “She had took a bite off it and it didn't taste like candy, so she threw it away. And before she got to class, she got really dizzy and didn't feel good, thought she was gonna throw up.”
She told MPR News that her niece immediately cooperated with officials and told them who she got the candy from but is still suspended from school until Friday.
“I'm really pissed off,” Tellinghuisen said. “It is not their fault, I mean, they took a piece of candy from a friend. If my friend asked me, ‘Do you want a piece of candy,’ I would probably take it, because I trust my friend.”
She said she’s concerned about whether her niece’s suspension will hurt her ability to continue playing sports. Moorhead Area Public Schools declined to comment, citing student privacy.
Police Chief Helmick urged parents to remind their children about the importance of not consuming unknown substances.
“This is a really unfortunate situation,” he said in a statement. “As a parent with children in the (Moorhead Area Public Schools) system, I understand and relate to the concerns being raised within our community. We will continue to work with Moorhead Area Public Schools as we investigate the incident and determine how we can prevent something like this from happening again.”
Late last year, a student at the same school was arrested for allegedly bringing 1,500 fentanyl pills to school.
Note: The Moorhead Police Department initially said, “Approximately 10 students ate the candy.” The department updated that number to 12 on Wednesday morning.
