ABINGDON, Va. – Shoplifting from a Wytheville Walmart got a Washington County man and his girlfriend hauled off to jail on four felony drug charges, including manufacturing methamphetamine.
The Virginia State Police had been tracking a man they had not yet identified for several days after tips started pouring in that he had been buying meth-cooking supplies in bulk from several area retailers.
State Police First Sgt. John Ruffin said they knew the man’s patterns, the type of pick-up truck he drove and had a general idea of his physical appearance thanks to store surveillance footage. On Friday, officers parked outside the Walmart expecting him to arrive, and sure enough he did.
Around lunchtime, the state police alerted Walmart security officers and asked them to track the man’s movements. The store’s security cameras followed the man while he was inside, and recorded footage of him pocketing a $19 tool set, Ruffin said.
When the state police searched the man’s truck, they found a dozen bottles of iodine, one of the main chemicals in meth manufacturing, Ruffin said.
Carl Luther Riley, 51, was arrested and taken to New River Valley Regional Jail on the shoplifting charge while the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police executed a search warrant on his home on Rush Creek Road in Glade Spring.
At the couple’s single-wide trailer off a rural single-lane road, Ruffin said, officers found the three main chemicals used to cook methamphetamine: red phosphorus, iodine crystals and pure pseudoephedrine.
The supplies seized in the home could have made five to eight grams of methamphetamine, Ruffin said. On the street, a gram of meth sells for about $100, but authorities suspect the drug was primarily for personal use.
Investigators also uncovered some marijuana and a shotgun.
Riley’s girlfriend, Shirley Ann Thomas, 55, was arrested at the home around 6:30 p.m.
Ruffin served Riley, already in jail on the shoplifting charge, with four felony charges and a misdemeanor: manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of two or more chemicals with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of a firearm while in possession of a schedule II drug, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Thomas faces the same charges, plus obstruction of justice, after, police said, she tried to pour evidence down the sink.
Meanwhile, authorities secured the volatile chemicals at the scene. Properly disposing of a meth lab costs the state and federal government between $1,500 and $10,000, depending on its size.
Ruffin said the clean-up on Rush Creek Road, a fairly small lab, ran them about $2,000, including a $100 disposable suit for each person entering the residence, evidence collection kits and hazardous waste contractors.
“Who do you think pays for this?” Ruffin said. “Our tax money.”
Riley is being held without bond at the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin. Thomas is at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Meadowview.
Police said their arrests are part of an ongoing investigation that could lead to further charges.
cgalofaro@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531
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