Local men charged in meth raid
Two local men face meth trafficking charges after their motel room in Manchester was raided by police.
The suspects, Dane S. Briest, 33, of McMinnville and Jeremy D. Smartt, 26, of Rock Island are both charged with manufacture of meth and possession of stolen property. They are both being held at Coffee County Jail under $250,000 bonds.
The incident which led to their arrests happened last week when police were called to their room at Super 8 Motel in Manchester to investigate a disturbance. When lawmen arrived, they found blood on the floor and a broken glass window. The man who reportedly broke the window, thereby bringing police to the motel, had already fled on foot.
A search of the motel room netted an alleged meth lab, $12,000 in stolen merchandise and a .22 caliber rifle, which was concealed under a mattress. Both men had been arrested on drug charges before in Warren County and are now suspects in recent burglaries, which Sheriff Jackie Matheny believes may account for some of the stolen goods found in their motel room.