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Halloween Decor That Looks Like Fallen Body Brings Emergency Responders To Front Yard In Detroit

By Christy Strawser

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) It's not exactly life-like, with its white cotton head and black body, but lying there face down on the grass, totally slack, with its arms outstretched, this Halloween decor is drawing all kinds of attention.

The attention isn't coming from the public, but from Detroit's police and emergency services.

In a city where it sometimes takes hours to get an emergency response, Detroit resident Kendrick Hardaway says his mother's house has gotten repeated visits by public safety officials who think they just stumbled on a dead body in the front yard.

They pulled up three times Tuesday and four times Wednesday to rescue -- or collect -- the body, and left shaking their heads.

The big dummy is on Mendota Street, near 6 Mile, and neighbors even have allegedly been fooled. "One of the neighbors came out crying cause she thought it was somebody out in the yard," Hardaway said.

He added his mother has put the decor out for the past three to four Halloween seasons, and this is the first time it's gotten this much attention.

"A lot of folks will drive by and think somebody is laying in the grass and they call (police)," he added.

Mom Larethia Haddon thinks it's hilarious. And police have told her she doesn't have to change a thing, he added, because there's nothing illegal about Halloween decorations.

"I think it's pretty funny," Hardaway's friend and bandmate Nick Behnan said.

So, why when they see this in Detroit do people automatically something terrible has happened?

"It's just, Detroit's got a bad rap, of course it's got its fair share of crime and for lack of a better term, the black sheep effect, we've gotten a bad rap over the years ... shooting here, stabbing there ... But it's not all bad," Hardaway said.

 

 

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