CRESTVIEW — A Crestview man is charged with child abuse and trafficking in methamphetamine.
The Okaloosa County Multi-Agency Drug Task Force arrested Allen M. Rhinehart in connection with a methamphetamine lab discovered Oct. 22 in Crestview.
Sheriff's office patrol deputies went to 5301 Godfrey St. to serve Rhinehart with a felony arrest warrant. While there, they detected evidence of a clandestine methamphetamine lab. Task force investigators arrived at the scene, confirmed the lab’s presence and investigated.
Rhinehart and his wife, Christina Russell, initially were absent, but Russell was contacted and returned, police said.
Russell provided written consent to search her residence, and admitted knowledge of methamphetamine being manufactured in the residence, and that two children (ages 2 and 4) were in the house during the manufacturing process on several occasions.
Russell — who purchased ephedrine/pseudoephedrine on multiple occasions and was blocked or prevented from making additional purchases — was arrested Oct. 22 on charges of trafficking in methamphetamine and child abuse.
On Nov. 1 at the Okaloosa County jail on other charges, Rhinehart consented to an interview with task force investigators and admitted to manufacturing methamphetamine at 5301 Godfrey St. on multiple occasions, and that two children were in the home on several of those occasions, officials said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview man charged in connection with meth lab