Agents from the Trumbull Ashtabula Group law enforcement task force raided what they said was a methamphetamine lab in a garage at 1082 Braceville Robinson Road in Braceville Township Friday morning.
Lt. Jeff Orr, who works undercover with the task force, said he is relieved they were able to get there before anyone was hurt.
"We had a tip this morning that there was a lab active, went out knocked on the door, smelled chemicals and Mr. Cowger came to the door with rubber gloves on his hands," Orr said.
Carlos Cowger, 36, was arrested just before noon on a charge of possession of chemicals to manufacture drugs.
The Trumbull County Hazardous Materials team set up a big yellow tent in the middle of the street and Cowger was taken into the tent, where he was stripped naked and given a cold shower. Police put Cowger in a HazMat suit before putting him in a sheriff's cruiser and taking him to the Trumbull County Jail, where he was decontaminated again.
"We decontaminate him here at the scene, and basically he was transferred down to the sheriff's office to the jail. Warren City Fire Department will then set up their decontamination shelter and will use the soap and water and get him completely clean before they put him into a cell," said HazMat chief Don Waldron.
Neighbors said they really aren't surprised. They said they thought something was going on here because when they would walk by the area, there was a strange odor, like something was burning.
Cowger was arrested on similar charges in November and that case is pending.
Agents spent several hours cleaning up the suspected lab. This is the third time this week they've had a similar instance.
"One in Cortland Monday night, and then we assisted Fowler Police Department last night with a mobile lab, some chemicals inside an abandoned trailer, and then this morning in Braceville," Orr said.
He said no charges have been filed yet in the Fowler case.
