On Tuesday, December 22, patrol Deputies from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office discovered a meth lab at 941 SW Longhorn Terrace in Fort White.
Deputies had been alerted to a possible drug operation at the home in unincorporated Columbia County and went to talk with the residents. When the Deputies arrived, they met with Patrick Pargo, 32 and explained the reason for the contact.
Pargo gave permission for the Deputies to look around his home. Inside the home, Deputies discovered a crude clandestine meth lab. When Pargo realized the lab had been discovered, he grabbed the bottle used in manufacture of meth and tried to run out of the home.
As the Deputies attempted to take Pargo into custody, he violently resisted. A struggle ensued and he took the top off the bottle of chemicals and tried dousing the deputies with it. Pargo was taken into custody and secured. During the arrest the Deputies and Pargo were exposed to volatile chemicals.
Deputies Matt Baucom and Olivia Roberts were treated at a local hospital for exposure and released. Both suffered minor chemical burns on their arms and are back to full duty.
Pargo also suffered minor burns and was cleared at the hospital and was booked in the Columbia County Detention Facility on Aggravated Battery on a LEO $50,000 bond, Resisting LEO with Violence $10,000 bond, Producing Meth $50,000 bond, Trafficking in Meth $250,000 bond, Possession of Drug Making Material $11,000 bond and Tampering with Evidence $10,000 bond.
The Columbia County Multi-jurisdictional Drug Task Force assumed the investigation. The Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task force is comprised of law enforcement personnel from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Lake City Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Sheriff Mark Hunter said, “This highlights the dangers associated with meth labs, we train for such investigations but sometimes things do not go as planned. I’m relieved the Deputies are going to be fine.”
