On March 8, 2014 just after midnight Deputy Matt King was dispatched to the Nancy Green Ridge Road, Crooked Hill Road area for a suspicious vehicle call. After clearing that call Deputy King noticed a vehicle moving around in the area suspiciously and later parked at a residence on Crooked Hill Road. Deputy King then saw someone flashing a flashlight from the side of the road. As he approached the light a tall slender man came out onto the road and started approaching the patrol car. Once the man noticed it was a deputy he ran off into the woods. Upon further investigation Deputies located some burglary tools, a meter box and another electrical box that had been taken from a nearby residence. Deputy King went back to the vehicle he had saw earlier and a female identified as twenty nine year old Lynn Louise Spalding of Athens Alabama was in the vehicle. Once deputies talked to Ms. Spalding she said she let her boyfriend out with a bag of tools and was to pick him back up in a few minutes.
Spalding was subsequently arrested for theft and warrants taken out for her thirty nine year old boyfriend Anthony Scroggins of Athens Alabama. The vehicle was towed for further investigation and registration violations. Spalding was released from the Giles County Jail on a $1,000 bond. Scroggins is still at large. The property owner was notified and he responded to the scene and verified that items had been taken from his property without his permission.
On the same morning at approximately 5:04 am Sergeant Brandon Tarpley was dispatched to a prowler call on Chicken Creek Road. The caller stated he had heard noises and what sounded like laughing coming from inside his garage. Upon arrival Sergeant Tarpley and Deputy King located Michael Leon Keeton of Pulaski inside the complainant’s garage holding a bag. Upon further investigation the deputies determined the contents of the bag to be a methamphetamine lab known as a “shake and bake”. Keeton was barefooted and said he did not know why or how he was at the garage. Deputies notified Chief Deputy Tommy Chapman and he responded with the Giles County Meth Task Force.
Investigator Scott Nations, Investigator Mike Thomason along with Giles County office of Emergency Management Director Barry Whitt, Assistant Director Jeremy Holley and members of Giles County Fire and Rescue Hazardous Materials Team responded to the scene as members of the task force.
Thirty seven year old Keeton was decontaminated at the scene. The lab was neutralized and later picked up by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force. Keeton was transported to the Giles County Jail charged with:
Simple possession of methamphetamine - $1,000 bond
Criminal trespass - $250 bond
Possession of drug paraphernalia - $1,000
Unrelated warrants were served on Keeton for Contempt of juvenile court bone at $1,817.68 and Violation of Circuit Court Probation with a hold no bond. He remains in the Giles County Jail.
Sheriff Kyle Helton said meth is still a big problem and very costly to the taxpayers in Giles County. Sheriff Helton is still supporting legislation to regulate the primary ingredient in meth manufacture which is pseudo ephedrine. “Without pseudo the meth makers cannot make the drug.”
