Arrests made in meth case

Two suspects face charges in connection with a meth-related bust on Valley Ridge Lane by the Cannon County Sheriff's Department.

Arrested at the scene were Thomas Clayton Coleman and Rebecca Lynn Hood.

"I would like to commend my deputies for an excellent job and hope the general public doesn't forget the dangers that the officers faced when dealing with meth labs," Sheriff Darrell Young said.

Initially, the Sheriff's Department was respond-ing to a 911 phone call in which a neighbor said they heard a woman screaming at a house that was supposedly deserted.  Valley Ridge Lane is located north of Pleasant Ridge near Gassaway Road.

When the neighbors went out to investigate they "saw a white car with the glass window broken out of it and the trunk was up. There was a man dressed in camouflage standing next to the vehicle holding a tiki torch," Officer Mike "Doc" Smith reported.

Smith responded to the initial call along with Deputy Melanie McCormick.

"We got out of our patrol vehicles and observed that people were running all over the yard and into the house and were running behind the residence," Smith said.

One suspect, later indentified as Thomas Clayton Coleman, was trying to hide inside the vehicle with the car seat pushed down. Officer McCormick handcuffed Coleman while a search of the premise began.

Smith approached the house and began to search it for people who had run upon the officers' arrival. After clearing the dwelling, room-by-room, Smith noticed a cabin behind it with the lights on. The door was open.

"I then shouted I was with the Cannon County Sheriff's Department. I then went inside and observed that there were two dogs laying on the couch. I then observed a ladder what went into the upstairs bedroom," Smith said.

In the upstairs bedroom, Smith discovered a meth lab, which he reported to the Sheriff's Department and additional officers were dispatched including Inspector Brandon Gullett and Sgt. Seth Perry.

Gullett had obtained a search warrant and was executing it when the officers made contact with a white female who was attempting to flee the scene.

"The female was taken into custody and detained," he said. Gullett said the woman was identified as Rebecca Lynn Hood.

Coleman was later charged with promotion to manufacture meth and maintaining a dwelling to manufacture, sell and distribute. Hood was charged with manufacture of meth and maintaining a dwelling to manufacture, sell and distribute.

In the search of the two dwellings, officers observed and photographed several items to known to be drug paraphernalia.

"Once I started up the stairs I observed a can of Coleman fuel sitting in the floor in front of the bed. I then observed a black bag sitting next to the fuel can. Inside the black bag were several bottles that contained used one pot meth labs," Gullett said.

In the search of the two residences, officers also found several items that had been reported stolen in other cases including a DVD player, laptop computer and riding lawnmower. Four one-pot meth labs were also discovered.

A 2002 Chrysler Sebring car was seized along with a 4-by-8-foot trailer with a 250 gallon water tank and pump on top of it.