(Stillwater) — A Cushing man was arraigned Monday on charges of endeavoring to manufacture methamphetamine in a vehicle — found burning about a half-mile west of Harmony and Grandstaff Road — and possessing the illegal drug, all in October.
Devin William Hulsey, 20, who is currently on probation for a raft of crimes, remains free on bail pending his return to court on April 5 when he can ask for a preliminary hearing on his latest charges.
Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Gregg Russell was dispatched at about 3:20 p.m. Oct. 29, 2009, to the scene of a car fire that was possibly set by a meth lab, according to his affidavit.
Deputy Brandon Myers responded to the Cushing Regional Hospital’s emergency room where two males had been transported by personal vehicle, the affidavit said.
Deputy Scott Hopper stayed with the vehicle, which was located in the middle of the roadway — with the passenger’s compartment and trunk area totally destroyed by the fire, the affidavit said.
“I was unable to find anything identifiable inside the vehicle that was related to a meth lab. Due to the heat reaching such a high temperature, I did observe that all the glass was melted and pooled in the floorboard of the vehicle,” Russell wrote in his affidavit.
Nearby, the deputy found what appeared to be a piece of lithium metal burning in a water-filled ditch, the affidavit said.
“Further down the road on the north side of the roadway approximately 100 yards east of the vehicle’s location, I found the remains of a lithium battery,” Russell wrote in his affidavit.
Deputy Myers advised Russell that Devin Hulsey and Ryan Green had been transported to a Tulsa hospital for their injuries, the affidavit said.
Myers said Green told him that Devin Hulsey picked him up and had the lab ready, the affidavit alleged.
Green said that when they arrived on the dirt road, Devin Hulsey started adding the lithium strips to the meth lab, the affidavit alleged.
When the bottle began swelling, Devin Hulsey took the lid off and Green saw a flash from the bottle, the affidavit alleged.
At Devin Hulsey’s residence in the 400 block of E. Cherry Street in Cushing, his mother, Gina Hulsey, gave deputies her consent to search the house for anything used in meth manufacturing or that would be hazardous to anyone inside, the affidavit alleged.
In Devin Hulsey’s bedroom, Deputy Russell saw an empty pill blister pack and a plastic measuring cup with a white powdery residue in it, both on the floor, the affidavit alleged.
On a shelf in Devin Helsey’s bedroom were also found 143 unknown pills, the affidavit alleged. Inside his closet, a backpack containing a two-pound bottle of crystal drain opener, a 12-ounch bottle of HEET, and one-gallon can of Coleman fuel, the affidavit alleged.
The items found in Devin Husley’s bedroom were consistent with the “one-pot shake and bake method of cooking meth,” the affidavit alleged.
“In this method of manufacturing/cooking meth, all the ingredients are mixed together into a bottle or jar. Most commonly the shake and bake meth labs are found in plastic bottles of some kind.
“This method is also very volatile and flammable. If the mixture is able to get oxygen in the bottle, the mixture can combust causing a fire,” the affidavit alleged.
The next day, the deputy sought the assistance of the Stillwater Fire Department to locate any remains of the meth lab left in the car, the affidavit said. Stillwater firefighters found a melted plastic bottle in the passenger’s side floorboard and the top of a lithium battery pack, the affidavit said.
A small amount of residue was scraped off the bottle and field-tested by the deputy as positive for ephedrine, the affidavit said.
According to court records, Devin Hulsey was sent to the state’s prison boot camp for six months in 2008.
Devin Hulsey is currently on five years’ probation for possessing a sawed-off shotgun and marijuana in September 2007, uttering a forged check to Stillwater National Bank in July 2008, running his vehicle into a girlfriend’s car in February 2008 and choking her in Cushing in August 2008, court records show.
Last December, Devin Hulsey was charged with entering property with the intent to steal copper wire stored in the bed of a vehicle owned by Buckles Electric in Cushing, and possessing that stolen coPper, both on Aug. 15.
His co-defendant in that copper case only, Phillip Anthony Wright, 19, was ordered last month into the state’s prison boot camp program, court records show.
Wright had pleaded guilty to the crimes involving copper, as well as five other property crimes, all investigated by Cushing Police Sgt. Mark Jobe, court records show.
If convicted of his latest charges of endeavoring to manufacture methamphetamine and possessing the illegal drug, Devin Hulsey could be given a 20-year prison term and a $20,000 fine.
If convicted of his charges involving the copper wire stolen from Buckles Electric Company, Devin Hulsey could be given a 10-year prison term.
Devin Hulsey also faces the possibility that his probation could be revoked in his earlier cases and be sent to prison for nearly 20 years, court records show.
No charges have been filed against Ryan Green, court records show.
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