CRESTVIEW — Police have released the name of a man responsible for snarling traffic Tuesday afternoon after he was discovered walking down John King Road with equipment used to make methamphetamine.
Crestview officers were called to the Super 8 Motel on South Ferdon Boulevard about 12:30 p.m. for a possible disturbance when they saw 19-year-old Michael Aaron Stephens of Crestview run away.
Officers stopped Stephens in the parking lot of Mack’s Automotive on John King Road and found what they believed was a “shake-and-bake” meth lab in a backpack he was carrying, according to Stephens’ arrest report.
The Police Department’s clandestine laboratory team responded to the scene. Officers evacuated Mack’s Automotive and shut down John King for several hours because of the volatile nature of the chemical process used to make meth.
John King was closed at State Road 85. Traffic was detoured onto Live Oak Church Road, which backed up traffic in both directions on SR 85.
Police, firefighters and an investigator with the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office were at the scene while the equipment was being neutralized and removed from the street.
John King reopened at 6 p.m.
Stephens was charged with resisting arrest without violence and trafficking and manufacturing methamphetamine. He was taken to the Okaloosa County Jail.
