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Police looking for suspect that allegedly released bed bugs in Pennsylvania Walmart

Posted at 1:50 PM, Jan 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-06 13:50:17-05

Police in northeast Pennsylvania are searching for those responsible for releasing bed bugs inside a local Walmart.

WENY-TV reports that police in Girard, Pennsylvania, were contacted on Friday when a manager at a Walmart store in Edinboro found a closed vial full of bugs tucked inside a boy's jacket that was for sale. A local Ecolab affiliate later identified the bugs as bed bugs.

A second closed vial that contained some dead bed bugs was found in the men's department on Saturday. Live bed bugs were also found near the men's dressing rooms.

According to NBC News, the incident appears to be isolated to the Edinboro store, as no other Walmart stores in the area reported issues with bed bugs.

In a statement to CNN, Walmart said that it had closed off the store's men's department and is working with a pest management service to determine next steps.

Police confiscated the bottles in the hopes of lifting fingerprints, and the store is currently conducting a review of surveillance footage.

Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.