Hazmat crews remove meth lab found in Riverside

Hazmat crews finished late night cleaning a home at 5793 Bayside Drive, where materials to produce methamphetamines were found earlier in the day.

Riverside Deputy Police Chief Michael Brown said a man who is known to police because of a lengthy criminal history was riding his bicycle erratically in the area of Spinning and Burkhardt roads when police stopped him and searched him.

Police found on his person pseudoephedrine and other chemicals related to meth production,  Brown said. The man, whose name was not released late Monday night, was arrested and jailed pending the filing of criminal charges.

Police talked with the man and were led to the Bayside address where he said he sometimes lived. Inside, police found evidence of a small meth lab, Brown said. Several people in the home, including children, were asked to leave for safety reasons. They told police they were not aware of the meth production.

Brown said the property owner, identified as a woman, is cooperating with police. She and the other people in the home were not arrested.

Neighbors said they it was scary to hear that such a lab was being operated near their homes.

"It could cause an explosion. It could cause the kids so much harm," said one neighbor, Kris Sullivan. He said there are dozens of children always playing the area and he was shocked to hear what was going on in the house.

Brown, the deputy chief, said, "We've have very few problems in this neighborhood."