Dexter man arrested on drug charges

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A happenstance stop by a Stoddard County sheriff's deputy Monday resulted in the seizure of a walking methamphetamine lab.

According to Sheriff Carl Hefner, Deputy Keith Haynes was travelling west on Highway 114 when he noticed a man looking over the side of a railing and acting strange.

When Haynes stopped to talk to the man, who identified himself as Richard Cullum, Haynes noticed a syringe in the Cullum's shirt pocket.

Haynes asked Cullum to step in front of his vehicle and out of the way of traffic, at which time Cullum reportedly responded, "No, I'm running." Cullum then ran and was captured shortly after. Haynes reportedly found a syringe and spoon on Cullum, and a shake-and-bake methamphetamine lab and chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine in a shoulder bag he was carrying.

Cullum, 39, of Dexter has been charged with felony attempt to manufacture or produce a controlled substance. He is being held on a $50,000 cash-only bond and is scheduled to be arraigned before Judge Joe Z. Satterfield on Thursday morning.

Pertinent address:

Bloomfield, MO