Sheriff shares trick-or-treating safety tips

FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – Before your kids start going door-to-door, there are a few safety tips you need to keep in mind.

Tomorrow night, ghosts, ghouls and goblins will take over communities in search of candy. In the event that your child is doing the knocking, there are some things to keep in mind.

“You’ve seen it on the news recently where the US Marshals and other agencies found these kids that were missing,” said Sheriff Mike Fridley. “We just need to be careful. We love our kids and want to have a good time, but again, we’ve got to be safe about it.”

To keep your spooky night from turning into a nightmare, there are a few precautions you can take to stay safe.

“Make sure they know not to go into any homes. We know most of our neighbors, but you still want to instill that into them. Don’t go into someone’s home unless you have an adult with you. If a car is driving up to them and says ‘hey, do you want a ride,’ or ‘get in,’ run away and find an adult and tell them about it.”

Since coronavirus is still a threat, make sure you mask up and keep hand sanitizer on hand.

“So people don’t have to have contact with kids [you can] reach out and throw it through the maildrop or open up the screen and drop it into their candy basket. As adults, we have to make sure that we check the candy and make sure the wrappers haven’t been tampered with or anything like that.”

If you decide your family’s safest option is to skip the tradition this year, there are still ways to make memories.

“We’re going to go to the Cass Railroad and have a small little Halloween railroad trip,” said Ray Lewis, whose child is in kindergarten. “She understands what the coronavirus is and how we need to be careful, so as long as she’s fine with it, we are fine with it.”

Click here for more information on what your community is doing this Halloween.

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Kassie Simmons
Kassie Simmons joined the team in January 2019 as a weekend journalist. She graduated from Virginia Tech in just two and a half years with a BA in multimedia journalism. During her short time at Virginia Tech, she served as the editor for the university’s chapter of The Tab. Kassie was named the top reporter for The Tab at Virginia Tech on multiple occasions and made the list for the top 30 reporters for The Tab in the U.S. She also studied theater performance and minored in creative writing. Before coming to WOAY, Kassie interned at WSLS in Roanoke and the Tidewater Review in her hometown of West Point, Va. She has loved following breaking news since her childhood and has a passion for delivering the stories people care most about. Kassie is excited to be working in Southern West Virginia and looks forward to all the adventures ahead of her. You can follow her on Twitter at @KassieLSimmons and like her page on Facebook. If you have a story you think she should check out, send her an email at ksimmons@woay.com.