Meth lab found
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on January 30, 2004 2:02 PM
A routine stop for a possible minor traffic violation on Thursday led to the arrest of a 21-year-old man on a charge of possession of a station wagon that had been stolen in Pennsylvania.
When a sheriff's officer looked further into the vehicle, he discovered that the driver had a letter from his father, who was in prison, the officer said. The letter told how to break into a Goldsboro business and take items needed to make methamphetamine, the officer said.
Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Worth stopped the 1997 Jeep at about 2 p.m. on U.S. 13 South. He said the vehicle was being used to steal anhydrous ammonia from National Welders Supply on U.S. 117 North near Goldsboro.
"During the investigation," Worth said, "it was discovered that the subject had in his possession a map of a local business and a letter from his father with specific instructions on how and where to carry out" a break-in and a larceny.
The items that the man was trying to steal, Worth said, are used to start a methamphetamine lab.
The driver, Joshua David Jackson of Godwin in Harnett County, was charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle and two misdemeanors, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while his license was revoked. He was placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of an $18,000 secured bond.
Worth said he stopped the vehicle because the driver was speeding.
Sheriff Carey Winders thanked Worth for his proactive law enforcement.
Worth said Jackson's father is in prison in Hudson in Caldwell County after being convicted of a felony assault.
The Jeep, valued at $18,000, was registered to Earl D. Hunt of Butler, Pa.