St. Clair District Attorney Richard Minor said that Bobbi Sue Powser, a 25-year-old white female from Pell City, and Jackie Shane Davis, a 30-year-old white male from McCalla, were in the custody of county authorities and scheduled for an initial court appearance with District Court Judge Phil Seay Thursday. The two are charged with unlawful manufacturing of controlled substance in the first degree, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana in the second degree and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Leeds police detained the two on Wednesday, when Officer Rafael Santa-Maria responded to a call in regards to shoplifting from the store at around noon. According to Sgt. Brian Ebner of the police department, both the items stolen (used commonly in the manufacture of methamphetamine) and the behavior of the individuals led Santa-Maria to believe something else was wrong.
“It was just a case of our officer being aware of the situation and doing good police work,” Ebner said.
According to Ebner, Santa-Maria obtained consent to search the vehicle, and during his search, Davis admitted the presence of a meth lab in the trunk.
“At that point, fire and rescue personnel were called to the scene and verified there was a lab in the trunk of the car,” Ebner said.
Authorities on the scene called in personnel from the Birmingham office of the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, and set up a perimeter around the vehicle.
“It (the perimeter) was for the safety of the citizens and the safety of our officers,” Ebner said. “The chemicals involved in manufacturing methamphetamine can be volatile.”
Ebner said the process of securing the lab and making safe the area took “about two-and-a-half hours.”
At press time, the two suspects each had a $250,000 bond.
They look sick in there pictures, meth does that to you.