A 37-year-old man was arrested on felony drug charges after a methamphetamine lab exploded, requiring a response from Sumter County Fire & EMS.
The brother of Jason Jeremy Collier had contacted law enforcement after he spotted Collier behaving suspiciously in the woods in the 700 block of Clyde Street in Wildwood. Officers from the Wildwood Police Department went to the area and found a black garbage bag containing baggies and Sudafed packaging. Police called the fire department to the scene.
Collier was apprehended nearby and told a police officer he had just dropped off a pickle jar of meth to someone at Club Wildwood.
He said had been cooking the meth and was nearing the final stage. When he attempted to “gas off” the liquid using salt and sulfuric acid, it exploded and burned his hands and jeans, according to an arrest report.
He said he had been inside a house cooking the meth when the explosion occurred. He then put the items in a black bag garbage and dumped them in the woods.
He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $19,000 bond.
