Former manager pleads guilty to cooking meth in restaurant

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A former Cape Girardeau Sonic manager pleaded guilty Tuesday before Butler County Circuit Court Judge Robert L. Smith to attempting to manufacture methamphetamine in the restaurant in December.

Dennie L. Bratcher, 27, also pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree burglary.

Bratcher's attorney, Ted Liszewski, said a sentence advisory report was ordered and his client will appear in court March 16 for sentencing.

Eric Ralls, a Cape Girardeau police officer, responded Dec. 10 to Sonic on Broadway after police received reports of a burglary taking place at the restaurant. Ralls found Bratcher cooking a batch of methamphetamine in the kitchen. Ralls said in a probable-cause statement he found plastic bottles and tubing on scene that tested positive for substances used for making methamphetamine.

Bratcher has one prior conviction in 2000 for burglary in New Madrid County.

The establishment on Broadway closed Jan. 31, although the company's communications department said the closure wasn't due to the incident, but rather for financial reasons.

All employees at the Broadway location have been transferred to the other two drive-ins in Cape Girardeau.

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