With the danger of fumes and explosion from the cooking meth lab being a real threat, Hoskins decided to evacuate the area surrounding the home where the lab was located. Residents of the neighborhood were permitted to re-enter their homes late Sunday morning.
Arrested on charges of the illegal operation of a methamphetamine lab were Shawn Lynn Pierce, 39, of P.O. Box 219, Hundred, and Mitchell Grant Williams, 32, of the same address. Neither of the alleged meth producers were originally from Hundred, but were visiting their friends who were actually the renters at the address. Reportedly they had recently moved to the area from elsewhere in West Virginia. Williams has a criminal record of having been involved with drug production before and he was out on bond in Kanawha County when he was arrested Sunday morning.
On hand to control and assist in executing the arrest and safeguarding the hazardous situation were members of the Wetzel County SRT team: Sheriff Hoskins, Chief Deputy Rob Haught, Deputy Rob Scott, Deputy Eric Daugherty, New Martinsville Police SRT members Detective Donnie Harris, Patrolman Don Larsen, Patrolman Tony Thomas, and Sgt. Steve Kastigar. Corporal Jeff Shriver from the West Virginia State Police and Hundred Police Chief Clay Lunceford were also on hand, as were special State Police from the northern panhandle to assist with evidence collecting. Firemen from Hundred, Wileyville, and New Freeport were there as were EMS units from Hundred and Pine Grove. The hazmat team on scene was from Parkersburg.
Sheriff Hoskins stated, “I appreciate the team effort involved in bringing this potentially dangerous situation to a peaceful conclusion. The fumes and volatility of a meth lab are not safe and everyone worked together well to keep the community out of danger. I am also grateful for the State Police team that came down from the northern panhandle to help collect evidence.”
Hundred Police Chief Clay Lunceford commented on the community reaction to the meth lab discovery, “People were really surprised that we had something like that here in Hundred, but they were really glad they were caught.”
Hundred High School history teacher and athletic director Myron Seese, who lives near the school, said at first he couldn’t understand what was really happening. “Sunday morning at about 1 a.m. I heard the siren go off and I thought there must have been a fire.” Since Seese lived in the northern end of the school area away from the meth lab/SRT operation, he was not required to evacuate. However, he did observe some of the activities and had nothing but praise for the way things were conducted. “Everything was under control. At no point did I ever feel like I or my family was in any danger. I congratulate the police and firemen for the good job they did,” he said.
His only concern was for the town of Hundred itself. “How do these type of people end up here? It was an unfortunate incident, but I’m really grateful they were caught. I hope they (law enforcement) really go after them and catch anybody else who comes here trying to do that sort of thing.”
According to Hoskins, Pierce and Williams were charged with operating a meth lab and other charges may be brought to the next session of grand jury. The home was located within the restricted 1,000 feet of a school under the Safe Schools Act. They are held in the Northern Regional Jail on $25,000 cash only bond each.