Meth lab discovered in Wooster

A Wooster man was arrested and has been charged with operating a meth lab out of his residence.

Mark L. Holdredge, 61, of 581 Northwestern Avenue, has been charged with illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs, in Wayne County Municipal Court.

He remains in Wayne County Jail on a $25,000 or 10 percent bond, as of Thursday.

His preliminary court date is Dec. 23 in front of Judge Carol White Millhoan.

Holdredge was arrested Monday morning after police were called to his home on Northwestern Avenue at 12:46 a.m.

Capt. Scott Rotolo with the Wooster Police Department said officers were called by a woman at the home who said she was in need of help.

Police made contact with the woman who said a male still inside the residence assaulted her and she let police inside the home.

While searching the home for the man, police found Holdredge laying on a bed, along with another man, who was the one the woman accused of assaulting her.

She later became uncooperative with police and the man denied assaulting the woman. But while police were taking statements, they noticed contraband in plain view on a table, Rotolo said. Police obtained a search warrant to search for additional contraband and located additional drugs and paraphernalia, including a meth lab and marijuana plant.

Holdredge was arrested for the meth lab, which Don Hall, director of the Medway Drug Enforcement Agency, said was located in the basement and dismantled.

Hall added the Wooster Fire Department evacuated the adjoining portion of the duplex home before beginning to neutralize the meth lab. Hall said it was not an active cooking lab, but all of the components required to make the drug were located. Additional bottles containing suspected meth sludge was found in the trash.

Hall said Medway agents cleared the scene by 9 a.m.

Rotolo said the woman, listed as 33 years old and residing at the Northwestern Avenue home, was arrested for possession of drugs and paraphernalia. She has been released from jail by Thursday and has not been charged.

The third person at the home at the time was transported to Wooster Community Hospital for a mental health evaluation.

He merely commented all three individuals are acquainted with each other.

"Let's just say the Wooster Police Department has had multiple instances where we have had contact with Holdredge," Rotolo said.