 |
Boat launch
fines draw ire, vote is tabled
Hospital prepares
for disaster
Marching against
`Bush's war in Iraq'
| Raid yields meth
arrests |
Suspected meth lab found in mobile home park in Newberg;
police team storms home |
By Gunnar Olson, Newberg Graphic
reporter
E-mail Gunnar at golson@eaglenewspapers.com |
Two men were arrested early Friday morning for
allegedly manufacturing methamphetamine at their mother’s mobile home in Newberg. The
wife of one of the men was also arrested.
All three — Richard
Pierce; his brother, Lyle Pierce; and Lyle’s wife, Rachel Pierce — will be
charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, said Newberg Sgt. Jeff Kosmicki. He
said that methamphetamine was confiscated, but that as of noon it had not been weighed.
Police were still investigating the scene Friday morning.
One of the residents of the mobile home park — Azalea Gardens Mobile
Manor, at 1103 N. Springbrook Road — neighbor called this newspaper saying she had
been awoken around 4 a.m. by an explosion. She thought a meth lab had blown up.
Kosmicki clarified: “The meth lab did not blow up.”
He said that, when the Oregon State Police served a search warrant, the
officers set off a stunning device to distract and disorient the occupants.
The owner of the property, Donna Pierce, was not there at the time of the
arrests, police said. The park manager, Jim Hampton, said that Donna Pierce had gone to
Yakima, Wash., to care for an ill relative. He expected her to return home that day.
Police declined to say whether Donna Pierce would be charged.
“I can’t comment on that right now,” Kosmicki said.
The manager and neighbors suspect Donna Pierce knew that her sons were,
allegedly, cooking meth on her property.
“I don’t see how she couldn’t know,” said Martha Meyers,
a neighbor across the street.
Hampton said that he confronted the Pierces multiple times, a few times with
the mother there.
“I said, ‘I smell it. You think I don’t know nothing. But I
know what’s happening,’” Hampton said.
Hampton and one of the neighbors recalled seeing Lyle and Rachel Pierce on TV
news reports about a month ago after they were arrested for a meth bust in Multnomah
County, then booked and released.
“As soon as that happened, they moved here,” said a neighbor who
asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
The Newberg Graphic searched the Internet and called Multnomah and Portland
police agencies, but was unable to confirm the alleged previous arrests.
A third Pierce brother, Larry Pierce, was arrested the day previous on a
parole violation for possession of a controlled substance, according to police. Police
said his arrest was unrelated to Friday’s meth bust.
The three Pierces arrested Friday were each booked at the Yamhill County jail
on $5,000 bail on charges of frequenting a place where controlled substance are used,
according to the jail.
Lonna McCommons, with the records department, said that the state of
Washington also had a no-bail warrant out for Lyle Pierce. He and his wife were both still
in jail as of noon Friday.
McCommons said that Richard Pierce had been been allowed to go free on a
conditional release. He uses a wheelchair, and she said that that could qualify him for a
conditional release. However, she said she didn’t know whether that was the case.
Police said an investigation is continuing. The case is being handled by the
Yamhill County Inter-Agency Narcotics Team (YCINT), which is made up of officers from the
Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office and police agencies around county, including the
Newberg-Dundee Police Department. Narcotics investigators from the Washington County
Sheriff’s Office aided in Friday’s investigation.
If you have information, call 1-503-472-6565. |
|
From July 2,
2005, Newberg Graphic
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