Cockroach Infestation Leads to Trick-or-Treating Ban

Trick-or-treating is off limits in a suburban Detroit neighborhood: There's nothing sweet about bringing home a cockroach. Per the AP, officials in Wyandotte said a cockroach infestation was confirmed at a vacant home after a tip from a trash hauler. The pests have been moving to other homes. Sidewalks will be closed Monday night on a portion of 20th Street. City engineer Greg Mayhew said a Halloween ban will prevent "further roach migration." Officials don't want the bugs hitching a ride on costumes, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The city is trying to exterminate the roaches but "it will take some time," Mayhew said. Walking the street could help kill the cockroaches, but their eggs still could attach to shoes and costumes and spread, City Council member Todd Hanna said. Per WXYZ Detroit, residents have been contending with the problem since early August, when trash collectors found so many roaches in garbage outside one house that they called the city and police were sent to conduct a welfare check. According to one neighbor, children were found inside the house with cockroaches "crawling all over them." The family has since moved, but the roaches have continued to proliferate and spread to neighboring homes.

(More trick-or-treaters stories.)