Investigators were searching Tuesday for the source of a batch of laced brownies that have sickened at least five students at a Union City high school.

Rick LaPlante, a spokesman for the New Haven Unified School District, said students at James Logan High School began showing signs of illness or intoxication last week.

“We had five students at Logan become ill over the course of three days,” LaPlante told KTVU. “At about the middle of that run, we noticed something was common in what was going on. They had consumed something in some bake goods they had purchased off campus.”

LaPlante said the working theory for the police and school officials was that the students thought they were buying marijuana-laced brownies but got something much more potent.

“They were buying pot brownies and thought that’s what they were getting,” he said. “Somebody out there wants to harm our children and that’s absolutely infuriating.”

Once the school officials became aware of the problem, Logan Principal Amy McNamara sent out a voice message Friday to all parents who had children at the high school.

“Several of our students have become very sick or under the influence after eating brownies that someone is giving to them. We are working with the police to identify the individuals responsible, as they may be doing this off campus or near campus. In the meantime, please talk with your children about this serious issue,” McNamara said in her recorded message.

Sharon Gutierrez, who was dropping off her child at the high school on Tuesday, said she was stunned when she got the call.

“I was surprised and concerned,” she told KTVU. “I’ve warned them [her high school and middle school age children] not to eat things that did not belong to them.”

Logan senior Paul Bernabe said he first became aware of the danger in a text message from one of his teachers telling him brownies had been laced with heroin.

“It’s [student discussions of the lacing] not really out in the open,” he said. “It’s being talked about, but not as much as people think… Kids are wondering who has it and who is giving it out… It’s serious; people are going to the hospital.”

LaPlante said police had gotten several calls over the weekend with information about the brownies.

Union City police Lt. Ben Horner said authorities were investigating and “have received information from students and parents that have been very helpful.”

As for the students who consumed the brownies, two required hospitalization but have recovered, school officials said. All five of the students also were facing some form of disciplinary action.

Police were also investigating a possible connection to similar incidents at nearby schools.

A student at Conley-Caraballo High School in South Hayward was cited for possession of a pot brownie on Jan. 7, La Plante said. Students at Conley-Caraballo High School and Union City’s Cesar Chavez Middle School may have also ingested contaminated brownies, police said.

Horner said it has not been confirmed that the brownies were laced with heroin, or even marijuana.

“At this point there is no verifiable evidence to substantiate the fact that anyone intentionally sold or provided controlled substances on campus,” Horner said.

“I have to say it would be pretty unusual for them to be laced with a narcotic like heroin,” he said.

Published by: KTVU.com
Written by: Claudine Wong
Picture by: KTVU.com
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