State police arrest couple, say potential meth ingredients found in vehicle in Canton
A West Virginia couple was arrested Monday by state troopers after police say potential ingredients for methamphetamine were found in their vehicle parked in the lot of a Canton Township convenience store, prompting a call to the state police clandestine laboratory response team.
James Edward Alexander Jr., 42, and Katrina Louise Stalnaker, 32, both of Buckhannon, were taken into custody in the lot of Circle K, 860 Henderson Ave. (Route 18), after troopers were called to the store about 2:15 a.m.
An employee of the store asked Mt. Pleasant police Officer Brian Butler, who was on a break, to check on the occupants of a blue Jeep parked in the lot. The clerk told him they had been there for a long time. Butler found them sleeping. When he knocked on the driver’s and passenger’s windows, neither the man nor woman woke up.
Concerned the two may have overdosed, Butler yelled through an open window, and Alexander responded.
Believing narcotics were involved, Butler checked Alexander and said he found a small metal container containing suspected methamphetamine. He also told state police that Stalnaker kept nodding off while he interviewed her. State police checked the vehicle and found paraphernalia indicative of a functional but nonoperational methamphetamine production laboratory.
Members of the state police CLRT responded and determined the materials were precursors to methamphetamine. The materials were seized.
Alexander and Stalnaker were arraigned before District Judge David Mark on charges of possession of red phosphorous and other items with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, possession with intent to manufacture and deliver a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia. They were placed in Washington County jail on $75,000 bonds. They are scheduled for a July 20 preliminary hearing before Mark.