Men cooking meth within shadow of R B Hunt School

Two St Augustine men are being held without bond today; each facing felony drug charges after police say they were manufacturing methamphetamine in their home; which lies within 1,000 feet of R. B. Hunt Elementary School on Anastasia Island.

Patrick Pearson, 27, and Stephen White, 55, who reside at 101 Magnolia Drive, were taken into custody by St Augustine Police about 7:00 a.m. today following a tip that the men were operating a meth lab at the address.

The police investigation that ensued resulted in the issuance of a warrant for the men’s arrest for simple possession of cocaine and methamphetamine. When officers entered the residence to execute the warrant, they say that they found the two men in the process of cooking meth.

Three other people were in the house at the time of the arrest; however, they have been released according to acting public information officer, St Augustine Police Sergeant Patrick McCaulley.

“When we found the lab, we immediately made it safe and ventilated the home so there were no fumes,” McCaulley reported.

Police and fire vehicles blocked Magnolia for much of the morning, and parents dropping their children off at school were directed onto a side street.

In a televised interview with the school’s principal, Don Steele, he said that police told him that there was never a problem. “I had been assured by police and the Fire Department all along that everyone is perfectly safe,” Steele told reporters.