BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Authorities have upped the charges on a woman arrested Thursday after police stumbled upon a meth lab in her kitchen.
Cynthia Laura Baumgardner, 43, of Deck Valley Road on the outskirts of Bristol, Tenn., is now facing charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, felony drug paraphernalia, maintaining a dwelling where narcotics are used or sold, possession of schedule III narcotics and possession of schedule VI drugs.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office went to the Baumgardner’s double-wide trailer in Roller Hills Park on Thursday morning to serve a warrant for failing to appear in court on a traffic charge. That’s when the deputy “saw what appeared to be a methamphetamine lab in the kitchen,” according to a statement issued by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office.
Her trailer is high on a hill, behind thick brush and out of sight from the rest of the trailer park. Still, neighbors said the community reeked of chemicals, and traffic up and down Baumgardner’s derelict driveway was so bad they were scared to let their kids play on the lawn.
Those neighbors said they never called authorities, but mentioned it to their landlord several times.
Tennessee property records name Kassie McDowell as the owner of Roller Hills Trailer Park. On Thursday evening, the woman who answered the phone at the number posted on the park’s entrance sign declined to name herself or comment on the bust. No one answered Friday.
Deputies, firefighters, ambulances and hazmat-suited drug experts were on the scene all afternoon and into the night, securing evidence and dismantling the lab.
Baumgardner remains at the Sullivan County Correctional Facility on a $50,000 bond.
cgalofaro@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement