Meth cook in one unit led to toxic exposure throughout building
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 24 for a Pell Lake man suspected of making methamphetamine in a Delavan woman’s apartment.
Nathaniel L. Bailey, 35, was charged June 6 in Walworth County Circuit Court with possession with intent to deliver heroin, manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of waste from methamphetamine manufacturing, possession of materials for manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the criminal complaint, police smelled a strong odor of ammonia while responding to a noise complaint and suspicion of drug activity at 710 Faryl Ave., Apt. 10, in Delavan on May 25. Five people including Bailey were in the apartment, two of whom complained of dizziness and feeling nauseous from fumes in the apartment, which the officer knew to be related to the manufacture of methamphetamine, according to the complaint.
The Drug Enforcement Agency was called to evaluate and decontaminate the apartment, and everyone present in the apartment including police officers who responded had to go to the hospital to decontaminate given the volatile and toxic nature of the chemicals founds in the apartment, according to the complaint.
During decontamination, Bailey admitted he had heroin on him, and 12 bindles of heroin were retrieved from him, the complaint states. Other tenants of the apartment, which is within 100 feet from Delavan Fest Park, reported Bailey coming and going from the apartment for about two months, according to the complaint.
In the apartment, DEA agents found multiple items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine including a clear plastic soda bottle with a pink substance in it, a camp fuel canister, household drain cleaner, a clear bottle with a yellow straw and noxious gas coming from it, a glass pipe, broken lithium batteries and multiple blister packs for pseudoephedrine, according to the complaint. Agents found a one-pot cook setup, lye high acid drain cleaner and camping fuel.
The county health inspector condemned the apartment building based on evidence of leeching of the chemicals into the drywall, trim and interior of the apartment. The Red Cross helped house the displaced residents, according to the complaint. A cat and dog also were removed from the apartment. The dog had orange chemicals in its fur and exhibited strange, erratic behavior, according to the complaint. Lakeland Animal Shelter staff bathed the dog three times before the chemicals were cleaned from its fur, the complaint states.
Police spoke to Janet Smith, 61, the apartment renter, who said she knows Bailey cooks meth but did not know he was cooking it in her apartment. Amanda Adams, another woman who was at the apartment, said Bailey asked her to buy Sudafed when she arrived at Smith’s apartment that day because the other three people present including Smith had already purchased pseudoephedrine and could not buy more, according to the complaint.
