Man burned when meth lab blows up
For the second time in as many months a man is injured in north Webster Parish after a suspected methamphetamine lab blows up, Webster sheriff’s officials said today in a news release.
Saturday night, an explosion in an outbuilding on R. King Road sent an unidentified man to the LSU Hospital burn unit with serious injuries, officials said. Another man, John D. Clark III, 49, was not hurt, but he was arrested after deputies determined the explosion was caused by a homemade methamphetamine laboratory.
The scenario was similar to an early January explosion at a different home in Sarepta, where Joseph Lane Umphries, 34, and Christopher Michael Coats, 18, were seriously burned. Webster investigators believe a homemade methamphetamine laboratory was to blame, but no arrests have been made.
In the latest incident, Clark apparently escaped injury because he briefly left the building to check on pork chops he was grilling. The explosion caused a brief flame, but the building did not catch on fire, which allowed evidence of the methamphetamine lab to be preserved. Large amounts of ammonia, tubing, batteries and more were secured by narcotics investigator Lt. Shawn Baker.
“Before Clark was taken into custody, our deputies learned that he was trying to hide evidence,” Baker said in the news release. “But it was a useless attempt. We recovered and collected a number of materials and components used to make the drug, as well as the final product.”
Investigators are continuing to look further into the incident and practices of Clark, and say more arrests could be possible.
“It’s such a senseless practice,” Sheriff Gary Sexton said, referring to meth use and manufacturing. “Folks just don’t release the danger they put themselves — and everyone around them — in. This office will continue our constant efforts to fight methamphetamine and other drug use, distribution and creation. Maybe this incident will shed some light on the serious dangers involved in ‘playing chemist.’”
Clark was booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, obstruction of justice and possession of methamphetamine.
No update was available on the injured man.
Doc Cobra
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