As SWAT surrounded house, occupants flush pounds of meth down toilet, prosecutors say

As Pierce County sheriff’s deputies were engaged in a SWAT standoff at a Bonney Lake-area home Wednesday, its occupants flushed pounds of methamphetamine down the toilet, prosecutors say.

They didn’t get it all, according to court documents.

About a pound of methamphetamine was seized in the bust, as well as a submachine gun, body armor and a stolen pistol, the documents say.

The four occupants were charged with the following crimes Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court:

▪ A 36-year-old Tacoma man was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, three counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen vehicle. His bail was set at $500,000.

▪ A 25-year-old Midland woman was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and destroying evidence. She was released on electronic home monitoring.

▪ A 35-year-old Tacoma woman was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and destroying evidence. She was released on electronic home monitoring.

▪ A 31-year-old Renton woman was chared with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Her bail was set at $10,000.

According to court documents:

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies had been investigating the Tacoma man, a known meth dealer, for about two months. Because of the scale of his operation, deputies used a SWAT team to serve the search warrant at the home in the 11300 block of 204th Avenue East south of Bonney Lake.

The warrant was served about 7 p.m. Wednesday, but it took about half an hour to secure the home for investigators to get inside. During that time, the Midland woman and Tacoma woman flushed multiple pounds of meth down the toilet.

Deputies entered the home about 7:30 p.m. and found a backpack with a pound of meth inside. They also found the Uzi-style submachine gun, the stolen handgun and the body armor, as well as a digital scale.

“Unfortunately, due to the delayed securing of the residence, multiple items of evidence were either concealed or destroyed by the occupants while inside,” assistant prosecutor John Sheeran wrote in the documents.

Deputies also found multiple stolen vehicles at the property, then found another pistol and some cocaine inside the home.

This story was originally published February 2, 2018 at 5:21 PM with the headline "As SWAT surrounded house, occupants flush pounds of meth down toilet, prosecutors say."