Background: Horizon Middle School in Moorhead, Minn. (Google Maps). Insets (left to right): Martin and Amanda Hulst (Clay County Sheriff”s Office).
Several children at a middle school in Minnesota got sick after eating “candy” that police said a student sold to them as part of their parents’ drug operation.
Martin Hulst, 40, and Amanda Hulst, 43, were both charged with nine felonies, including possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment, after police said their child brought THC gummies to school on Monday and gave them to other students, which resulted in 12 students at Horizon Middle School becoming ill.
At a press conference covered by local news outlet Inforum.com, the superintendent of Moorhead Area Public Schools, Brandon Lunak, said that several students showed up at the school nurse’s office on Monday afternoon with the same nausea symptoms. According to reporting by local ABC affiliate KSTP, police were called after the students said they had eaten candy that one student had shared.
Police said two students were brought to the hospital and the rest were sent home to their parents. In court documents obtained by Fargo, North Dakota-based NBC affiliate KVLY, one of the children reportedly fell and sustained a head injury. According to police, the candies the students consumed were sour strip belts that contained 300 mg of THC.
Moorhead Police Chief Chris Helmick said at the press conference that the student who brought the candy to school was identified as the Hulsts’ child, and police obtained a warrant to search their home. Police said a student they interviewed told them that Martin Hulst was supplying his own child with THC vape cartridges to sell to other students. Martin Hulst then collected the money from his child.
According to police, investigators found “prohibited amounts of suspected THC products in the form of flower, cartridges, and wax, along with psychedelic mushrooms,” scales, packaging materials, and $73,380 cash in a safe. Police said the Hulsts’ basement was set up as a storefront with bags with “Thank You” printed on them.
The Hulsts were on vacation in California at the time of the search, but were arrested while they were on their way home from the airport on Wednesday. Helmick said other children from the household were placed in the care of Clay County Social Services. Amanda and Martin Hulst remain in custody at the Clay County Jail.
Amanda and Martin Hulst’s charges include possession of a controlled substance, sale of a controlled substance, possession of a hallucinogen, and reckless child endangerment. The drug charges come with aggravating factors of selling to minors and possession of quantities substantially exceeding the minimum threshold for the offense. Their next court dates were not available.
