Oakdale Police have announced “Operation Halloween 2.0” in response to the tampered candy incident from Halloween. The alerts and advisements regarding the incident prompted some to throw away trick or treat candy out of a valid abundance of caution. Officials added that many local residents that inspected and re-inspected candy were still left with a shared uneasy feeling.

Recognizing this, the police department is inviting all members of the community impacted by this unfortunate event to come by the Oakdale Police Department, at 245 N. Second Ave., on Saturday, Nov. 3 between 9 a.m. and noon to receive free certified safe replacement candy treats.

Police staff will be checking and scanning all candy between now and then to ensure impacted kids get their Halloween back. McGruff the Crime Dog will be joined by police personnel along with demonstrations of specialized equipment. Costumes are optional and highly encouraged.

“Rest assured our officers are working very hard to try and identify the source of the tampered candy,” said Oakdale Police Chief Scott Heller. “Meanwhile, we thought it very important to also focus energy on those impacted by this terrible event and clearly demonstrate, in Oakdale, good ultimately prevails.”

Police have spent the majority of the past two days analyzing evidence and contacting residents in the area where the tampered candy was reportedly discovered. Oakdale Police have partnered with other allied law enforcement agencies to assist in their efforts including investigators from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office. There have been no additional incidents reported to police at this time.

Investigators continue to actively investigate the incident from Halloween night and are asking anyone with information to contact police at 209-847-2231 or call Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.