By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
February 21, 2012

Police were called Monday afternoon to an apartment building at 145 S. Hardesty originally on a disturbance call of a naked man running through the halls. Upon arrival, officers did not find the man, but located two people arguing in an upper hallway. Upon responding to the people arguing, officers found evidence of a methamphetamine lab in an apartment on the fourth floor of the building.

Police called for an ATA bus to hold residents safely away from the building as the scene was further processed. Firefighters treated one man at the scene for chemical burns on his feet and lower legs. He was transported to a local hospital where his condition was not known. Narcotics detectives remained on the scene and tenants were allowed back inside the building but were barred from going to the top floor.

Sources with the police department indicated that the lab in the apartment building was a “shake n bake”  or “one-pot” lab in which methamphetamine is cooked in a plastic soda bottle, one of the most dangerous and volatile methods of manufacturing the drug.

The department’s Metro Meth Unit recently released a flier outlining the dangers of one-pot meth cooking and the associated dangers of tampering with the spent leftovers of a mobile meth lab. According to that flier, the mere act of touching a soda bottle used in cooking meth could trigger a chemical reaction that could cause serious injury or death if a bottle exploded. Metro Meth detectives stressed if any of the items seen in the flier are discovered outside, do not remove or touch the items and call 911 immediately.  Here’s the PDF link to the flier: Mobile Meth Lab Flier