Deputies: 2 charged after meth lab found in car

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — Gwynelle Leaird got up early Wednesday to take her daily walk, and instead was met by orange cones blocking the road, and a member of the state guard.

Lancaster County sheriff's deputies had discovered a meth lab on her Kershaw street.

"We never have any trouble around here. Then to get up and learn that someone has a meth lab down the street, that was crazy," Leaird said.

A deputy on patrol noticed a white Thunderbird sitting on the side of the road at Stevens Park in Kershaw.  Two people were inside.

"The deputy thought it looked suspicious.  He did his job and checked it out," said Major Matt Shaw of the sheriff's office.

It turns out, the car had been reported stolen from Berkeley County, S.C. Officials said the driver, 24-year-old Zachary Kerr, is wanted by authorities in Charleston on a family court warrant.   Mandy Richardson, 24, of Kershaw was also in the car, investigators said.

The deputy searched the car and said he found all the ingredients to make meth in the trunk.

"It was a rolling meth lab," Shaw said.  "Coleman fuel, ice packs that had been broken up, drain cleaner, and plastic bottles and tubing."

Channel 9 was there as an upstate hazmat team dressed in protective gear spent more than an hour cleaning up the mobile drug-making lab.

The team collected items in large buckets, separated them, and carried them to a waiting truck with gloved hands.

This was all happening behind a city park in Kershaw that has a playground, pool and community center.  Inside that community center, about 30 senior citizens were having a weekly get-together.

Howard Hibbard said he was surprised to hear about what was going on right behind them.

"It lets you know that no matter where you're at, no matter how small the town may be, there are always those concerns," he said.

For Leaird, it was the fear that someone walking that morning could've been hurt.

"You don't know when something like that is going to blow up," she said.

Fortunately, meth labs appear to be a rarity in Lancaster County.  Shaw said only a few have been found in recent years.

Still, it costs thousands of dollars to clean up even a small one.  The state contracts with private companies to do the job. It's paid for through SLED.

As for the car, Shaw said even after the lab is removed, it's still too dangerous to return the car to its rightful owner.

It's likely it will be totaled.

"This is some really dangerous stuff," he said.

Both Kerr and Richardson are in jail. They are charged with making meth, possession of a stolen vehicle, drug possession and possession with intent to distribute drugs. As of late Wednesday, bond had not been set on either of them.

Deputies say they also found methamphetamine and marijuana in Richardson's purse.  She faces additional drug charges.

WSOC