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Deputies raid meth lab |
Children present at home in Bloomfield Township
By BILL RODGERS / Tribune Chronicle
February 8, 2008 |
BLOOMFIELD — Two children were contaminated by a man and a woman who were
brewing methamphetamine in their rural Bloomfield home, police say.
A raid Thursday night on a suspected meth lab at 2016 Cooks Lane netted
three arrests. Among those nabbed was one man who literally drove his car up
to drug task force members as they were about to leave for the night.
One man and one woman, who police said were boyfriend and girlfriend, were
arrested and charged with a first-degree felony of manufacturing
methamphetamine with children present. The man who later came on the scene
was charged with a third-degree felony of assembling chemicals to
manufacture methamphetamine.
Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere said the couple had to be
decontaminated before they were read their rights.
‘‘This was some really bad stuff. I mean, the worst of the worst,’’ he said.
Altiere said the names of the arrested trio would be released this morning,
along with more information about the raid.
Deputies with the Trumbull-Ashtabula Group drug task force removed chemicals
and equipment for meth manufacturing from the home.
Police say two children were in the house the night before the raid. They
were considered contaminated and taken by family members to a hospital for
treatment.
Deputies said they found residue, but no actual drugs at the home.
The one-story home sat one house back from state Route 45 just south of
Bloomfield Center. A swingset could be seen adjacent to the home.
Police say the house is contaminated but doesn’t pose a danger to neighbors.
Authorities set up a neon yellow tent in front of the home, and people could
be seen entering the home wearing white hazardous materials suits and
breathing apparatuses.
Fire and ambulance crews stood by, and occasionally someone in a suit would
exit the home carrying what appeared to be a cooler with stickers on it.
Police put a woman wearing a white HAZMAT suit into a cruiser, followed by a
young man in another suit.
Task force members were getting ready to leave, and a deputy with TAG was
talking to reporters when a man driving a dark blue Pontiac Grand Prix made
a fast right turn from Route 45 onto Cooks Lane, skidding to a halt about a
foot away from the deputy.
The man put the car into reverse and started backing away from the scene as
the deputy pounded on the car, yelling for him to stop.
Police surrounded the car and opened the driver’s door. The engine was shut
off, but turned back on again as deputies struggled with the man inside. One
deputy could be seen running toward the car with his hand on his gun.
The man was crying and yelling as deputies pulled him from the car. ‘‘I’m
just turning around!’’ he said.
Officers arrested the man and began searching the vehicle. They found some
shopping bags with four bulk packages of matchbooks, fire starters,
cigarette rolling papers and about three black bottles.
One deputy could be heard talking to another deputy, commenting that the man
had been seen at the home earlier.
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