SISTERS ALLEGEDLY CAUGHT OPERATING MOBILE METH LAB WHEN VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE ON MORGAN CITY HIGHWAY IN LOUISIANA

MARCH 23, 2015

MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA

A Morgan City-area woman was hospitalized and her sister arrested after a vehicle police say operated as a mobile meth lab caught fire, Morgan City police report.  

Morgan City Police Department officers responded around 2 a.m. Monday (March 23) to the fire on an elevated stretch of U.S. 90, where the Morgan City Fire Department and a hazmat team helped extinguish the flames.

Evidence allegedly showed sisters Jewel Ross and Pearl Ross, both 31 and from Amelia, had been operating "a functioning clandestine laboratory used in production of methamphetamine."

Pearl Ross suffered severe burns and was airlifted to a hospital in Morgan City before she was transferred to a burn unit in Baton Rouge.

Jewel Ross refused medical treatment for minor burns. She was then booked into the MCPD jail on a charge of creating/operating a clandestine laboratory and given a bond of $100,000.

Additional charges are possible. 

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Jewel A. Ross, 31 years of age, Address-Amelia, La. was arrested on 03/23/2015 @ 7:19 am
Charge: Create/Operate a Clandestine Laboratory 

     At 2:01am on 03/23/2015, officers were dispatched to the elevated portion of U.S. Highway 90 in regards to a vehicle fire.  Officers arrived to discover a vehicle burning with two occupants, Jewel Ross and Pearl Ross, both 31 years of age, of Amelia, La. 

The fire was extinquished by the Morgan City Fire Department.  During the investigation, officers uncovered evidence which indicated that the subjects were in possession of a functioning clandestine laboratory used in the production of methempetamine. 

Evidence indicated that the hazardous contents of the lab ignited, leading to a fire inside the vehicle.  A hazardous materials response team was summoned to the scene to recover and contain any hazardous waste products.  A passenger in the vehicle, Pearl Ross was flown to Teche Regional Hospital by AirMed unit of Acadian Ambulance Service with severe burns. 

She was then transported to a Baton Rouge burn unit and was last listed in serious condition.  Jewel Ross, sister of Pearl Ross refused medical treatment for minor burns.  Investigators secured an arrest warrant for Jewel Ross based on the evidence recovered. 

She was arrested and remains incarcerated in the Morgan City Police Department's jail facility with a bond of $100,000.00.  The investigation is continuing and additional charges are possible based on the outcome of that investigation.