Macon police discover methamphetamine lab in burning car

MACON - Two Macon police officers became suspicious Wednesday when they noticed smoke pouring from a burning car and the three people inside refused to come out. <br> <br> Police say, it turns out that the three were making methamphetamine in the back seat when the fire broke out. <br> <br> Spokeswoman Melanie Hofmann says officers had to pull the suspects -- two men and a woman -- out of the car. <br> <br> Forty-year-old John Thomas Rodger, 22-year-old Anthony Scott Chairmont, and 22-year-old Stephanie Lynn O&#39;Neal, all of Macon, each were charged with manufacturing methamphetamines. Rodger also was charged with giving false information to police and possession of methamphetamines. <br> <br> Officers Doug LeCompte and Verdelle Grant were eating lunch when they saw smoke coming from a vehicle parked next door and went to investigate. <br> <br> LeCompte says the suspects refused to get out of the burning car and had to be pulled out. Police stomped out the flames. <br> <br> Rodger, who was sitting in the back seat, suffered minor facial injuries. He was treated at the scene for his injuries. <br> <br> Red phosphate, the substance found on the tips of matches, is an ingredient in methamphetamine but it must be scraped off the matchsticks. Investigators say the fires likely started while Rodger was scraping the matches. <br> <br> Hofman says these so-called rolling labs are even more dangerous than those set up in homes or storage units because of the risk of explosion.

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