Richland County Sheriff’s deputies uncovered a methamphetamine (meth) lab in Lucas on Tuesday afternoon during the investigation of a stolen iPhone.
According to a press release, Deputy Joe Peters went to 186 W. Main St., Lucas at 5:22 p.m. Tuesday, at the request of the Ontario Police Department, searching for an iPhone reported stolen from their jurisdiction. The homeowner allowed Peters to enter the residence.
Inside the residence, Deputy Peters found Dewey Wheeler, 39, and Diane Morrow, 60, hiding in the residence. Both Wheeler and Morrow had active warrants for their arrest and were arrested and transported to the Richland County Jail.
Wheeler had two outstanding warrants for failure to appear and Morrow had two outstanding warrants for failure to appear and two warrants for theft. Morrow’s failure to appear charges are related to a 2013 case where Morrow was charged with OMV while under suspension and speeding. According to Richland County Common Pleas court records, Wheeler has a criminal history dating to 2002 that includes drug-related charges, theft, and receiving stolen property.
While inside the residence. Deputy Peters found materials used in a meth lab. Deputy Peters contacted METRICH. METRICH made the residence safe and collected evidence for possible charges.
Additional charges are pending for the suspects.
