Kids Find Mushroom Gummies on Porch
Two fathers in San Diego's Ocean Beach district say their children grabbed psilocybin treats while trick-or-treating on Halloween.
By Lucas Sheridan ·
A Halloween treat turned into a police case in Ocean Beach this year.
Frank Cary and Cameron Hunter were walking with their children on Saturday night when the kids stopped at a porch with a bowl of candy. Cary said his two-year-old grabbed a package and walked away with it. The father saw a giraffe illustration and text that appeared to be melting. He noticed a dosage listed as five grams on the front. After flipping the package over, he read the words psilocybin mushrooms. The parents immediately checked the bags of all the children in the group.
Hunter recorded a video of the interaction at the home. The clip shows him speaking with a woman who was at the door. The parents said the bowl was still sitting on the porch when they returned to the location. They contacted the San Diego Police Department after the encounter.
Shawn Barger, the homeowner, disputed the account when reporters visited the house two days after the holiday. He said his wife was confused when strangers confronted her about the packages. Barger noted that the house rarely receives visitors because of its neighborhood reputation. He called the home a witch house or a dead house in the minds of some residents. Barger denied owning the gummies, arguing that the cost made it unlikely he would leave them out to cause trouble. He estimated the value at roughly three hundred dollars and said he did not have that much cash to spend to make himself look bad.
Lieutenant Cesar Jimenez of the San Diego Police Department confirmed the report of a potential drug distribution to children. Investigators have not yet confirmed the contents of the gummies. Jimenez stated that testing is necessary before authorities can determine if a crime occurred or if anyone faces charges. He said the parents handled the situation correctly by accompanying the children, checking the items, and contacting police.
The investigation is ongoing. Authorities are working to determine exactly what the gummies contained and how they ended up on the porch.
