Police found toxic chemicals inside a ground floor apartment in the GrandMarc apartment complex at 15th Street Tuesday night after investigating reports of a strange odor coming from the apartment. The search yielded chemicals that could be used to make illegal drugs, including methamphetamine.
Two 19-year-old male residents were present when police entered the apartment, Charlottesville Police Lieut. Don Campbell said, but no arrests were made. Two other residents of the apartment were not home at the time of the search, he added.
Campbell said he could not confirm whether the residents are currently enrolled as University students. The GrandMarc apartment application, though, requires prospective residents to be students “enrolled in a degree program at a qualifying institution.”
Campbell said police obtained a search warrant after conducting a preliminary investigation.
“We found chemicals, and at that point, it was a matter of public safety,” Campbell said. “We called the state lab to come to separate the chemicals to make sure ... There would be no potential for fire hazard.”
A team entered the building in HAZMAT suits to clean the apartment and send the recovered chemicals to the state lab for analysis, Campbell said. Investigating officials cannot yet confirm there was any criminal activity going on in the apartment, however, Campbell said.
“We’re not sure we are following up on that point,” Campbell said. “Right now, we are looking from the point of public safety but we are also looking into suspicion of something more than just chemicals going on in the room.”
Campbell said police officers found chemicals and precursor drugs that could be used manufacture methamphetamine, but said other illegal drugs, like marijuana or cocaine, were not found in the apartment. He declined to specify the specific chemicals found.
Some of the surrounding apartments also were evacuated, Campbell said, adding that no one is currently living in the searched apartment. HAZMAT members secured the building and removed all toxic chemicals from the premises, he said.
GrandMarc resident and second-year College student Kate Hoover said she found out about the police presence in the building around 1:30 a.m. when her roommate came home and saw policemen and fire trucks blocking the street.
Hoover noted that the next time she heard about the incident was when she got an e-mail from GrandMarc officials around 4:00 a.m. stating that there were “noxious chemicals” in the apartment.
In this e-mail, GrandMarc spokesperson Frances Thompson stated, “We are making every effort to ensure that the proper steps are taken.”
Representatives of the apartment complex were unavailable as of press time.
Campbell said police spent about 13 hours on the scene, from around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. The investigation is ongoing, he said.
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