Posted on 06/08/2012 6:47:02 PM PDT by doug from upland
SOUTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MO (KTVI)– The Walmart on Telegraph Road at I-255 was evacuated for close to three hours Thursday night after a shoplifter was caught with a portable meth lab that was actually cooking the volatile drug in her purse. Quick thinking cops may have prevented a bad situation from being much worse.
Police say it was about 6:30pm when they received the call about the couple shoplifting. Beat cops arrived to make the arrests with little thought of drugs.
Police say A 32-year-old woman had stolen a purse and was filling it with cosmetics. But when they encountered the man and woman that had been detained, one of them noticed the soda bottle in the woman’s purse. He knew from training that it was a portable meth lab, known as a “shake and bake” device. It was actually cooking meth in the woman’s purse.
Police quickly brought in the fire department and the St. Louis County Drug Task Force to deal with the chemicals, which officers tell us often explode or catch fire in those small bottles.
Meanwhile the store was evacuated. Hundreds of people were milling about in the parking lot, and more cars were being turned away by Walmart employees as they tried to come in.
Shopper Kelly Wells was among those evacuated from the store.
“People are insane,” she said. “It’s a bad decision in the first place, but why put everybody in danger? All these kids and in the public. It’s just crazy.”
Kim Howard was also inside when shoppers were hurried out.
“There was a lady next to us who said I come here to get my medication. That’s scary because now she’s afraid to get it. She doesn’t know if it’s contaminated or not. “
Police say no such worries are necessary. Nothing was contaminated, and the meth ingredients, both inside the store and in the couple’s car outside, were safely secured.
No one was injured, and the store reopened about 9:30 Thursday night.
“It’s pretty exciting over here for Walmart,” one passing customer said with a chuckle.
The woman was later released but the investigation is continuing.
evacuated? meth-lab in a purse? whaaaaa?
Sad isn't it? This Walmart is in a good area of town, not far from where I live and work. Things are getting out of hand here in areas that I would never have believed. A woman at a Kohl's in Crestwood had a gun pointed at her and her purse stolen in the parking lot at 10:30 AM not long ago. The perps have been arrested and they were not from the area, but it makes one think that there are fewer and fewer areas that are safe...
MOgirl
http://somechicksblog.com/make-meth/shake-and-bake-or-one-pot-meth-making
Hey, the gal is just multitasking...bake while you shop...
Meth lab in a purse ?
You learn something new every day...
You owe me a keyboard ...
Hey, mini-labs! I like the idea. Soon they’ll be able to fit them inside your cell phone.
I don't think Walmart deserves the blame here, but I liked the image.
I just spit my adult beverage all over my screen and keyboard. My dog is looking at me as if I had just found the most recent pair of chewed over shoes. Too funny.
Ragards.
It’s the zombie portable meth apocalypse!
Yep, the segment of the Lou that used to victimize within the city limits discovered juicy targets in the burbs now. The folks in St. Charles are finding this out to their great dismay because many of them bailed on the city and near city north county because of the those above mentioned rascals.
Hell, you have to be on full watch at the Galleria.
Moon-shining is a real problem in some areas and I am not talking about the couple of gallons they show on TV.
The big time guys haul their stuff in a tanker truck.
And yes because QA is not their top priority the stuff is dangerous to drink.
What areas? In the USA?
hope and change comes in all sorts of packages.
demographics.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.