Bomb squad, Hazmat crew, DEA agents among those sent to Prunedale for alleged meth operation

UPDATE: 5/11/2015 6:15 p.m.

The investigation is continuing after Monterey County Sheriff’s Deputies busted what they say was a meth lab in Prunedale. Saturday’s bust landed 31-year-old Matthew Atchison behind bars.

Monterey County Sheriff’s Deputies were called out to a Prunedale neighborhood on Saturday after they got a report of two neighbors fighting. When they arrived, they met Atchison, who they believed was on meth. Deputies say when they searched his home, they found evidence of what they believe was a meth lab inside his bedroom.

“What we would call regular precursors,” Commander John Thornburg of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said. “Chemicals and equipment necessary to produce methamphetamine.”

Evidence was later confiscated by the Department of Justice. Their ‘lab team’ is specially trained and equipped to be able to safely and properly take these down.

Family members say Atchison has a history of drug addiction. Despite a previous attempt to making meth, they don’t believe he was currently making meth.

“There was no methamphetamine confiscated,” a family member said. “There was hardly anything confiscated, just some small items. Nothing that would warrant a meth lab.”

Atchison is currently being held at the Monterey County Jail for being under the influence of a controlled substance and operating a meth lab.

“You know I’m not saying he shouldn’t be locked up,” a family member said. “That’s probably the best thing to happen for him.”

As for the house, investigators say they’ve averted a potentially dangerous situation there.

“There’s also a danger of fire and explosion,” Cmdr. Thornburg said. “So all of those are grave concerns for the deputies and the neighbors in the area of the house where we found the lab.”

Deputies say one of the officers who responded on the bust had to be taken to a local hospital for chemical exposure but has since been released.

“The deputy was inside the room apparently when she realized what she had found,” Cmdr. Thornburg said. “That short time in there was enough to expose her to the chemicals involved with a methamphetamine lab which are very dangerous, so was seen medically and is still working.”

ORIGINAL POST:

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad, Narcotics detectives, DEA agents, the Monterey County Health Department and local Hazmat crews responded to a home in Prunedale Saturday afternoon to investigate a dangerous methamphetamine production operation, deputies said.

Deputies originally responded to a disturbance call on Frisch Road. They arrived to find Mathew Atchison, 31, under the influence of a controlled substance, deputies said.

Atchison was detained for a health and safety code violation. Deputies discovered Atchison had a search and seizure waiver, meaning deputies did not need probable cause to search his home. This waiver is usually associated as a condition for people on probation.

In Atchison’s room, deputies found items used to make meth including dangerous chemicals, glassware and an instruction manual for producing meth, authorities said.

Deputies decided to call in the agencies listed above for safety reasons.

“As a result, one deputy was sent to the hospital for chemical exposure and has since been released,” the Sheriff’s Office stated in a news release.

The hazardous materials were cleaned up and Atchison was booked in to the Monterey County Jail on multiple charges, deputies said.