INTERLACHEN, Fla. – A Palm Coast couple was arrested Monday morning in Putnam County and charged with having a methamphetamine lab in a car with a baby in the back seat.
Louis Vetrano and Claudia Payes are facing drug and child neglect charges. The couple's infant son is OK, but he is now in the care of the Department of Children and Families.
According to deputies, the newborn was sitting in the back seat next to something called a "gasser," which is a soda bottle with a straw in the top that can emit dangerous hydrochloric acid gas (example made with water bottle pictured).
Investigators said Payes and Vetrano were in the process of moving from Palm Coast to Interlachen in Putnam County.
A deputy stopped them just outside a shopping center in Interlachen about 9:30 a.m. Monday, because Vetrano was driving with a suspended license.
According to police reports, after drug-sniffing K-9 Zeke got a hit on the car, the couple was asked if there were drugs inside. Vetrano said there were needles in the front, and he was immediately arrested.
Deputies continued to search and found materials used to make methamphetamine, including the gasser in the backseat.
"The baby was in a seat in the backseat less than 2 feet away from a bottle that contained hydrochloric fumes," Putnam County Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Dick Schauland said. "It could be very deadly."
A deputy who is trained in handling methamphetamine labs was able to dismantle the "gasser." After all evidence was seized, the couple's car was towed from the scene.
According to deputies, the couple was heading to a doctor's office in Interlachen, because the baby was sick. During the initial traffic stop, they allowed Payes to take the baby to the doctor, while they questioned Vetrano.
In the police report, the mother admitted to using meth with Vetrano. Payes said they stopped to pick up supplies to make meth earlier in the day. She told investigators she was very upset that the gasser was located so close to the baby.
Vetrano and Payes were each charged with possession of methamphetamine, maintaining a vehicle used in the process of manufacturing a controlled substance, child neglect without great bodily harm, possession of chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Vetrano was also charged with driving on a suspended license as a habitual traffic offender.
Vetrano was booked into the Putnam County Jail without benefit of bond, and Payes' bond was set at $23,520.