Suspected meth lab uncovered near school (Colorado)

Classes canceled at Manitou Springs Elementary

Suspected meth lab uncovered near school

By ANSLEE WILLETT THE GAZETTE

The Manitou Springs Elementary School was shut down this morning after a methamphetamine lab was found in a bungalow across the street.

Early today, parents of the 430 students were notified by school officials and through the media that school was closed for the day, Principal Russ Vogel said. School usually start at 8:20 a.m.

Teachers were posted outside to catch children walking to class who hadn’t heard school was closed.

“The concern was the chemicals and the possibility of dangerous fumes getting to the school,” he said. “We’re being super cautious.”

School is expected to reopen Friday.

Meth is made from over-the-counter cold medicine and common household chemicals, including red phosphorous, sulfuric


acid, iodine and ammonia. The fumes saturate virtually every surface, much like cigarette smoke.

Exposure to meth labs has been linked to kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, seizures and death, authorities said.

An anonymous tip to the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Unit sent police to the bungalow on Pawnee Avenue. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team swarmed the house about 6 a.m.

It’s one of two meth labs authorities have discovered so close to a school in El Paso County, said sheriff’s Sgt. Terry Curry.

“We’re talking from sidewalk to sidewalk, less than 50 feet,” he said, from the bungalow to Manitou Springs elementary.

Curry described the lab as small, capable of producing about a half-ounce of meth per week.

John Steven Hagge, 39, was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing meth, possessing chemicals and supplies to make meth, possessing meth and special offender because the lab was operating within 1,000 feet of a school.

From an empty kindergarten classroom, police in protective suits could be seen going in and out of the home, just yards away.

“It’s an eyeopener when it’s right across the street,” the principal said. “Obviously when they’re doing stuff like this, they’re not considering life or children.”

Pawnee Avenue, about a block north of Manitou Avenue near downtown and the city’s library, was shut down for nearly five hours while police dismantled the lab.

Eight meth labs have been busted in 2006 in El Paso and Teller counties.

To report a suspected meth lab, call the tipline at 444-3111.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or anslee.willett@gazette.com

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