Teen arrested for church burglary, meth

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WALA) - A Fairhope teenager is charged with drug trafficking after admitting to police there was a meth lab cooking at his apartment complex.

Police were initially called to a church on Dyer Road for a report of a burglary in progress. That's when police found 18-year-old Brandon Hoenstine.

"Officers from the Fairhope Police Department responded to a report of a possible burglary in progress on Dyer Road. When they got there, the suspect fled the scene on foot. They chased and caught him," said Sgt. Craig Sawyer.

While police were taking Hoenstine into custody, police said he told them of a meth lab that could possibly "over-cook". Authorities went to the apartment complex located on Gayfer Avenue and found the meth lab cooking in the parking lot.

"After he was in custody, one of the first statements he made to officers was about a danger posed by a meth lab in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex," said Sawyer.

Officers quickly responded.

"The officers went to the location, found a one-pot meth lab in progress. The Baldwin County Drug Task Force came out and dismantled it and were able to extract in excess of 28 grams of meth," Sawyer said.

Sawyer said the reason Hoenstine was at the church is still unknown.

Sawyer said the meth lab was in the process of cooking, and posed a great threat to the apartments if it had "over-cooked".  Police believe no one noticed the meth lab because it was just after midnight and many residents were asleep.

Hoenstine is charged with drug trafficking and burglary.