MARGIE TRAX PAGE
Star Beacon
May 19, 2007 12:23 pm
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GENEVA TOWNSHIP - - A Geneva Township woman was charged with the manufacture of methamphetamines Tuesday after Ashtabula County sheriff's deputies uncovered her meth laboratory in a house trailer on Austin Road.
Tina Wheeler, 24, initially refused to allow the deputies to enter her home on lot #54 of the Austin Manor mobile home park Monday evening, neighbors said.
The deputies gained entry to the trailer and found bottles of clear liquid, funnels and other items used in the manufacture of methamphetamines.
Wheeler was arrested and taken to the Ashtabula County Jail, where she remains in lieu of posting bond, Western County Court records show.
While Wheeler was being booked, deputies in uniform and in white hazardous-materials suits lined evidence outside the front door of the trailer home as neighbors gathered to watch the unfolding scene.
The Geneva Fire Department was called to the scene to provide ventilation for the deputies as they gathered evidence. Northwest Ambulance District also responded.
"We sort of always suspected something was going on in there," neighbor Kurtis Jackson said. "People have been complaining of headaches ... here for a while."
The strong smell of ammonia is an indicator of a meth lab.
Neighbor Brittany Chambers, 16, said her father suffered headaches for months.
"And she was boarding up the windows. Something was going on in there," Chambers said.
Now, Wheeler faces charges of illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacturing of drugs and possession of a controlled substance, Western County Court records show. A preliminary hearing will be held Tuesday, court records show.
Star Beacon Print Edition: 5/16/2007
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