POLICE SAY METH MADE AT CARE FACILITY

POMONA -- Two city men accused of making methamphetamine in a home for
the elderly are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday to enter a plea
on the allegations, authorities said.

The Havens Family Home at 562 W. 7th St. was evacuated late Friday
after police arrested the two men. Police officers also evacuated
several people in a home next door.

Richard Frederick Fraley, 30, and Mario Baca, 29, were arrested about
10:50 p.m. Friday on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine, Sgt.
Gordon Jones said.

Fraley also is suspected of child endangerment and dependent adult
endangerment, police said. Both men are being held on $500,000 bail at
Pomona City Jail, Jones said.

They are scheduled to appear in Superior Court on Tuesday for
arraignment.

Major Crimes Task Force officers set up surveillance at the Havens
Family Home after receiving an anonymous tip about a methamphetamine
lab in the house, officers said.

Mario Baca left the house carrying a white bag, police said. When an
officer confronted him, Baca allegedly dropped the bag and fled,
police said. Officers caught him and discovered methamphetamine oil in
the bag, police said.

"It's very bad. All meth labs are highly flammable from the chemicals
involved. It is highly volatile. All you've got to do is spill one
little thing, or get one chemical into the wrong place, and it goes up
in smoke," Sgt. Frank Holder said.

"It doesn't take hardly any space to set up," Holder said. "It's real
prevalent now to find them in an urban area."

When investigators approached the building they smelled
methamphetamine, police said.

While the home was evacuated, Fraley exited with nine other people.
Four dependent adults, ages 68 to 87, and three children were taken
into protective custody. Among them was Fraley's 7-year-old son, Jones
said.

The home was licensed, with the capacity to care for up to six people.
It was a home for the elderly and, according to the state, it
"provide[s] supervision and programs for individuals who have
Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia. The facilities provide
services to persons 60 years of age and over and persons under 60 with
compatible needs.... [They] may also be known as assisted living
facilities, retirement homes and board and care homes."

Officers called in a hazmat team to handle the cleanup, as well as the
Red Cross, Los Angeles County firefighters, the Department of Children
and Family Services and the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement to assist
in other ways.

Police entered the building with a search warrant and found chemicals
and other items for manufacturing methamphetamine, police said.

The allegations that drugs were being made at the home stunned some
neighbors.

"I'd never seen anything wrong," said neighbor Fernando Gallegos, 35.