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Christopher Walls, 50, of West End Avenue was charged on Sunday with various offenses related to manufacturing and maintaining a meth laboratory at his home, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Walls also was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, Gramiccioni said.
“Thanks to the swift action of our office, the Long Branch Police Department, and the New Jersey State Police, a very serious risk to public safety has been averted," Gramiccioni said.
Acting Long Branch Police Chief Frank Rizzuto said, "It is disappointing beyond measure that one of our officers could have risked the safety of his family and neighbors by engaging in such dangerous conduct."
Long Branch police were called to Walls’ home on the 300 block of West End Avenue at 10:36 p.m. on Saturday for a domestic disturbance, authorities said.
While officers were on scene, another resident in the home alleged Walls was involved in suspicious narcotics activity.
The New Jersey State Police Hazmat Unit responded to the scene and located materials, chemicals and instruments consistent with a methamphetamine laboratory in both the basement of the residence and in a shed on the property, the prosecutor said.
A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s Professional Responsibility and Narcotics Units and the Long Branch Police Department revealed that Walls had been in possession of books related to making methamphetamine, explosives and poison.
Additionally, a large open and unsecured gun safe was in the home which was accessible to a child living in the residence. Inside the gun safe were two long guns, four handguns, eight high-capacity magazines, and a large quantity of ammunition, the prosecutor said.
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