The New Jersey State Police’s Hazmat Unit discovered instruments and all the ingredients needed to make methamphetamine in the basement and in a shed on the property, along with meth residue on chemistry glassware
A Monmouth County police officer has been arrested for running a meth lab out of his Long Branch home, authorities said Sunday.
Police were called to the Long Branch home of Christopher Walls, 50, for a report of a domestic disturbance around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, and while on scene, a resident tipped officers off to Walls’ drug laboratory, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office alleged Sunday.
The New Jersey State Police’s Hazmat Unit discovered instruments and all the ingredients needed to make methamphetamine in the basement and in a shed on the property, along with meth residue on chemistry glassware, authorities said. Walls also had books about making methamphetamine, explosives and poison, the office said.
Walls, a 19-year Long Branch police officer, has been suspended without pay. Wall had a $128,000 annual salary, according to state records.
“Thanks to the swift action of our office, the Long Branch Police Department, and the New Jersey State Police, a very serious risk to public safety has been averted. The collaborative efforts of our agencies dismantled a very dangerous situation. It is particularly distressing that this hazard was caused by a sworn law enforcement officer,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said in a statement.
Police also found an open, unsecured gun safe with two long guns, four handguns, eight high-capacity magazines and ammunition inside, authorities said. The safe was accessible to a child living there, police said.
“The officers in our agency risk their lives daily to protect and serve our residents. It is disappointing beyond measure that one of our officers could have risked the safety of his family and neighbors by engaging in such dangerous conduct. This officer’s actions do not reflect the moral compass of our officers or this agency,” acting Police Chief Frank Rizzuto said in the statement.
Walls is charged with maintaining or operating a narcotics production facility, manufacturing and possessing methamphetamine, possession of a firearm during the course of a drug offense, risking widespread injury, endangering the welfare of a child.
The officer was being held Sunday at the Monmouth County jail.
Tags: Children Exposed LEO Arrest Meth Meth Lab Weapons Involved
