By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
CONNEAUT — The cases of three area residents arrested in Conneaut last week in connection with a methamphetamine lab operation have been bound over to an Ashtabula County grand jury.
Shawn Barnard, 33, 7172 Beaver St., Williamsfield; his brother, Jeffery Barnard, 28, 477 Chadman St., Conneaut; and Malissa Burger, 20, also of 477 Chadman St., waived their rights to preliminary hearings during an appearance before Conneaut Municipal Court Judge Thomas Harris late Tuesday afternoon.
Shawn and Jeffery Barnard face felony charges of drug abuse and illegal manufacture of drugs or cultivation of marijuana. Burger has been charged with obstructing justice.
In return for their willingness to waive preliminary hearings, prosecutors dropped charges of having weapons under a disability originally filed against both Barnards. Bonds of $225,000 and $175,000 for Shawn and Jeffery Barnard, respectively, were continued by Harris.
The judge, with the blessing of assistant law director Luke Gallagher, also reduced Burger’s original $25,000 bond to a personal recognizance bond.
The trio was arrested Thursday by Ashtabula County sheriff’s deputies investigating the theft of a trailer from Koski Construction Co. of Ashtabula. Deputies were tipped off that the stolen trailer was located at 484 Parrish Road, Conneaut. Deputies Taylor Cleveland and John Bernardo obtained a court search warrant to recover the trailer. With assistance from Conneaut police, the deputies questioned individuals found at the Parrish Road house.
A search warrant was secured, and during the search, officers discovered a meth lab operation. Deputies also found several types of explosive items, including dynamite fuses. The Lake County Bomb Squad was called in to check out the explosives, according to sheriff’s reports.
The suspect linked to the stolen trailer is still at large, said sheriff’s administrator Lt. Greg Leonhard.
