ROCKINGHAM — Court documents made available Thursday shed light on an East Rockingham meth bust late last week.

According to a search warrant application by Detective Sgt. T. Rucker of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, it was probation officers who first discovered methamphetamine at 106 Safie Third St. on Aug. 14 while conducting a warrantless search at the home of 31-year-old Larry Almond.

When Rucker and Detective J. Millen arrived, they spoke with Neil Parrish, with the Richmond County Probation Office, who told them that meth was found inside a baggie that was hidden in the battery compartment of a cellphone that belonged to Almond, according to Rucker’s probable cause statement.

Rucker said probation officers also found a coffee filter with a powdery substance, a dgitial scale with baggies inside the cover, burnt spoons, a loaded syringe that Almond told them had meth inside, empty syringes, Coleman fuel, rubber tubing and iodized salt.

Probation officers told Rucker there was a safe in the corner of Almond’s bedroom. When asked to open it, Almond told officers that he must have damaged it while trying to change the combination.

Almond also told officers that there was a “one-pot” along with other materials to make meth inside the safe when asked if there was anything that could hurt the officers or his family.

Resident Superior Court Judge Tanya Wallace signed off on the search warrant.

During the search, officers inventoried the items they found and seized from each area:

BEDROOM — a pipe cutter, blue tissue with white powder, several plastic tubes of different lengths, a gallon of Coleman fuel, a 17.6-ounce container of sea salt, a half-used 26-ounce container of iodized salt, a 2-cup glass measuring cup with white powder, an AA lithium battery, a coiled blue plastic tube, a Lowe’s receipt for tubing, a coffee filter with white powder, a small red baggie with 10 white tablets, a digital scale with several unused bags, an LG cellphone with a small red baggie with white powder inside the battery compartment, a metal spoon with cotton residue, a needle full of liquid, several assorted used needles.

SAFE — a black canvas bag with a sea salt grinder, a half-full bottle of pure lye, an instant ice compress that had been cut open and was missing the water pouch, a half-full 32-ounce bottle of drain opener, a clear plastic water bottle with clean liquid and white granular material.

SIDE PORCH — a clear plastic bottle with white granular material, the top of a green plastic bottle with plastic tubing through the center of the cap, a plastic bag containing a green plastic bottle with a metal screw drilled in the center of the cap, a 16.9-ounce Sprite Zero bottle corroding at the bottom with white granular material.

TRASH BAGS/BURN PILE — a plastic bag with a corroded clear plastic bottle containing white granular material, a clear plastic bottle with white chunky residue, a piece of plastic tubing, a 16-oz caffeine-free Diet Mountain Dew with plastic tubing affixed to the bottle cap containing white granular material, a bottle of Ronsonol lighter fluid, interior stripping from batteries, a cut-open and empty AA lithium battery, a plastic bag with a 20-ounce clear plastic Pepsi bottle corroded with white granular material, an empty box of instant ice compresses, an empty 26-ounce salt container with a purple glove inside, a cut-open instant ice compress, several empty boxes of cold medicine and sales receipts.

Judge Wallace ordered the destruction of all materials after being documented, photographed and the collection and labeling of samples for analysis. She also ordered the N.C. State Crime Laboratory to destroy the samples 60 days after analysis is complete and the report has been issued.

Almond was arrested and faces multiple felony charges including: three counts of possession or distribution of a meth precursor; manufacturing methamphetamine; possession of methamphetamine; and maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was originally booked into the Richmond County Jail under a $225,000 secured bond. However, court documents show District Court Judge Amanda Wilson reduced Almond’s bond to $100,000 on Thursday and ordered him not to possess any product to be used in manufacturing meth.

An application for indigent status, which would allow him to receive a court-appointed attorney, shows Almond is unemployed and has no income.

Almond has a criminal past with several misdemeanor convictions — but none drug-related — going back 13 years, according to records with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.

His first Richmond County conviction was in 2002 on charges of breaking and entering and larceny, for which he was given probation. Ten years later, he again received probation on another larceny charge, and in 2013 was found guilty on two counts of resisting an officer. In 2009, he was convicted of driving while impaired in Randolph County.

Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.

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By William R. Toler

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