Police Bust Meth Lab

Article published Dec 6, 2005

Police bust meth lab

By NICK WERNERnwerner@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE -- Conservation officer Ed Rucker's conscience nagged at him as he passed a stranded motorist on Ind. 67 Sunday morning.
After all, it was cold outside and the man needed help.
Rucker said he turned his patrol sport-utility vehicle around and found a car empty on gasoline but loaded with fresh methamphetamine, unfinished meth and volatile chemicals.
"It was pretty much a bomb in his car, really," Rucker said. "You just never know what you're getting into."
Rucker's discovery sparked a day-long investigation that involved five police agencies, spanned three counties, uncovered a "large" meth lab and netted three arrests.
The stranded motorist, Shane T. Williams, 30, Chesterfield, was jailed in Delaware County on charges of dealing meth, possession of meth, and possession of precursors.
A man police described as Williams's business partner, Joseph S. Jones, 32, 6608 N. Randolph County Road 1000-W, was jailed in Randolph County on charges of manufacturing meth, possession of meth, and possession of precursors. His wife, Jennifer J. Jones, 35, same address, was also arrested on charges of possession of meth.
Cpl. Ken Lopez of the Delaware County Sheriff's Department said meth busts and arrests are on the rise across East Central Indiana because police have become more aggressive in their investigations and because the drug's popularity is rising.
"It's so cheap to produce," he said.
From January through July this year, police uncovered 18 labs in Delaware, Jay, Madison and Randolph counties. Those counties accounted for 16 labs in all of 2004, according to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
Before the discovery in Williams's car, Rucker provided the man with enough gas to drive to a Village Pantry at Delaware County Road 400-S and Ind. 67.
"Think of how many people he put at risk pulling up to that gas pump," Rucker said, in reference to the volatile chemicals in the car.
While at the station, Rucker ran a background check on the man's driver's license and found he was driving while suspended and wanted on a warrant from Hancock County.
The officer then arrested Williams. Rucker found the drugs, ether and other chemicals while taking an inventory of items in the car so it could be towed, he said.
Delaware County Sheriff's deputies and Chesterfield Police searched Williams's home, where he lived with his girlfriend and their five kids, ages 3-11, who were not home at the time, and found more drugs and chemicals, they said.
Evidence led investigators to the Jones home, where officers found a large meth lab in a garage, police said. Joseph and Jennifer Jones have a 3-year-old son who was home during the search, according to authorities.
Jones and Williams are friends and work together at an Indianapolis waterproofing company, Lopez said.
Police said they notified social services about the children, who were then removed from the homes.
Lopez credited Delaware County correctional officers for saving Williams's life after he tried swallowing a baggie with 8-12 grams of meth while being booked into the facility.

What a Lucky BREAK! Kim