Published: November 09, 2009 08:29 am      

Meth lab found near school

Pryor Police arrested two men in connection with a methamphetamine lab discovered in an abandoned house, right down the road from Washington Elementary School on the west side of town.

Jerry Garrison, 43, Pryor and Buddy Bristol, 51, Pryor were taken into custody.

Pryor Police received a call about a possible burglary at the abandoned home after Garrison was observed entering the home, located on Oak street.

“I just happened to be in the area, when the burglary call came in,” Sergeant Brent Crittenden said. “I pulled up and caught the guy red-handed.”

Crittenden discovered the meth lab and placed Garrison under arrest.

When officers Jeff Mitchell and Kevin Lanham arrived to assist, they observed a man who had exited a nearby house watching intently.

“They asked to talk to him and he began backing away, shaking his head,” Crittenden said. “They told him to stop and he took off running.”

Officers made chase and caught Bristol.

Further investigation revealed that the two men were staying in the home and cooking meth in the nearby abandoned structure, which is owned by Eddie Peters.

“Someone vandalized it between renters, so we boarded it up,” Peters said of the home. It had been empty six months.

Bristol and Garrison were jailed and are to be arraigned on Monday on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine within 2,000 feet of a school.

In an abandoned home, the possibility of kids

having stumbled on to the dangerous lab weighed heavily on the minds of law enforcement.

“Luck was on our side today,” Crittenden said.