AUBURN — A sewing needle “expertly” placed down the center of a candy bar caused a concerned dad to dump the whole load of Halloween candy and send out a word of caution.

Jason Levesque said he took his children, 6, 8 and 16 years old, out for an innocent evening of trick-or-treating Friday evening on Amberly Way and Fairview Avenue, expecting a great haul from a generous neighborhood.

When the three kids pooled their spoils together and divided them, Levesque’s oldest found a trick hidden within her treat. Buried within a “fun size” Snickers bar, Levesque said the teen found a sewing needle.

“Frankly, I’m flabbergasted,” Levesque said. “Hopefully, this is an isolated incident.”

Levesque said that as of Sunday evening, he had not yet contacted the police but said a report was forthcoming.

Auburn police Lieutenant Laurie Woodhead said Sunday night she hadn’t heard of any similar incidents regarding tampered candy.

Meanwhile, Colorado website imfromdenver.com ran a brief story regarding “multiple reports and photos of sewing needles being placed in Snickers bars.”

Levesque said that outside of urban legend, this is the first time he actually heard of anything like this happening — and certainly not within his own family.

Perhaps more shocking to Levesque is that this happened in a city and neighborhood he sees as “awesome” saying, “Regardless of the neighborhood, you just can’t know.”

dmcintire@sunjournal.com