Update (11:57 a.m.): The two men arrested were John David Gray, 39, of Conyers, and Terry Lynn Johnson, 50, of Covington. Gray is charged with Posession, Possession with the intent to distribute, and manufacturing of methamphetamine, posession of marijuana less than 1 ounce, second degree forgery, drivng with a brake light out, and posession of drug related objects. Johnson is charged with Posession, Posession with the intent to distrubte , and manufacturing methamphetamine, posession of marijuana less than 1 ounce, second degree forgery, and posession of drug related objects.
UPDATE (10:40 a.m.): Pine Street Elementary students will be transitioned back to PSE later today after lunch, according to Rockdale County Public Schools spokesperson Cindy Ball. Stay tuned for updates.
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Conyers Police busted a truck with the makings of a rolling meth lab just outside Pine Street Elementary early Friday morning. The school and and Milstead Avenue were closed down until around 8:45 a.m. as the DEA decontaminated the truck and chemicals in the bed of the truck.
CPD Chief Gene Wilson said the decontamination was part of protocol. "We're not going to take a chance, with the wind going that way," said Wilson, pointing at the school. The deconatmination process by the DEA's mobile unit wrapped up around 8:30 a.m.
Pre-K through second grade were rerouted to CJ Hicks Elementary and third through fifth were routed to Conyers Middle School for the morning. As of 10:15 a.m., school officials are deciding whether to transition students back to PSE for the remainder of the day, according to Rockdale County Public Schools spokesperson Cindy Ball.
Trick-or-treating by several schools and daycares among Olde Town businesses, continued as scheduled at 10 a.m.
According to Chief Wilson, officer Chase Bagwell stopped the purple Ford pickup truck for a traffic stop around 5:30 a.m. on Milstead Avenue, at the entrance of the Pine Street Elementary parking lot.
Officer Bagwell "smelled something that alerted him he might have stumbled on some people that were somehow involved in meth. He started looking and he saw what he thought were the ingredients to make meth," said Wilson.
The two white males in the truck, in their 40s and 50s who reportedly lived in the area, were placed under arrest and taken to the hospital for decontamination and then booked into the Rockdale County jail.
Along with ingredients for making meth, police found a large amount of meth, a few counterfeit bills, as well materials for making counterfeit money. The Secret Service will be notified of the counterfeit currency.
For now, the two arrested men are charged with posession of methamphetamines, but more charges could follow, said Wilson.
The Drug Enforcement Agency was called into decontaminate the truck and separate the chemicals considered dangerosus as part of protocol. Milstead Avenue and Pine Street Elementary were closed while the truck and materials were investigated.
"Many times the chemicals involved in producing methamphetamines can be dangerous, even by themselves not mixed with anything," said Wilson. Some of the types of ingredients includ carpet cleaner and batteries , which they break open for the acid.
