Three arrested after two separate drug raids

CHILLICOTHE – Detectives and task force members had a busy day Wednesday as they took down one mobile methamphetamine lab, found another at a nearby home and raided a house on another street — all within about five hours.

Three men were arrested after the Chillicothe police road patrol received an anonymous tip about a mobile meth lab in a vehicle parked in the 700 block of Madison Ave.

City detectives, along with road officers and members of the U.S. 23 Major Crimes Task Force, went to the site and found several “one-pot” meth labs — meth ingredients combined into small containers — and 14 grams of meth inside the vehicle.

A search of a home located at 767 Madison Ave., yielded chemicals and other items that are commonly used in the production of meth and resulted in three arrests.

Jason Gibson, 39, and Justin West, 29, both of Chillicothe; and Thomas Sommers Jr., 29, of Bainbridge, were each charged with illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for manufacture of drugs, a third-degree felony. More charges could be coming, said Chillicothe police spokesman Bud Lytle.

But police weren’t done. During Wednesday’s investigation, detectives questioned one of the men about an Aug. 10 incident on Adams Avenue in which he claimed to have been burned by someone throwing a substance on him from a car.

“During the investigation, he admitted that the story wasn’t true,” said Lytle. “He told the detective that he had been burned when a one-pot meth lab exploded in his face.”

Officers also participated in a raid at 256 S. Mulberry St. at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. Inside, Lytle said officers found an unknown amount of heroin and crack, along with drug paraphernalia.

Two women inside the home, including a woman living in the home, were detained, but not yet charged. The suspected drugs will be sent to the crime lab for testing and charges are pending.