By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HARPERSVILLE—Police arrested three Harpersville residents and one Westover man on charges of operating a clandestine meth lab in the 500 block of Farmingdale Road in Harpersville on April 18.

Rita Cole Gulledge, 54, Randy Dale Hollis Sr., 53, and Randy Dale Hollis Jr., 25, all of Harpersville, and Lynn Alton Vick, 50, of Westover, were arrested and each charged with one felony count of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance. According to arrest warrants, the three allegedly were operating a meth lab in the residence of Gulledge and Randy Dale Hollis Jr.

The Harpersville Police Department responded to the Farmingdale Road residence on a noxious odor call and discovered evidence of the meth lab “in the course of the investigation,” an April 20 news release from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office read.

“Harpersville (Police Department) received the call,” Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Cpt. Kevin Turner with the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force said. “(They) went and responded and (discovered) evidence of a meth lab.”

The SCDETF was called in upon identification of the meth lab, Turner explained.

Police allegedly discovered “precursor substances” of meth, including two “pots with amonia nitrate, lithium strips (and) starter fluid” inside the Farmingdale Road residence, arrest warrants read. According to court documents, the “clandestine laboratory operation” was “within 500 feet of a residence, place of business, church or school.”

The SCDETF dismantled and removed the meth lab from the residence, the news release confirmed.

Gulledge, Randy Dale Hollis Sr., Randy Dale Hollis Jr. and Vick were arrested and placed in the Shelby County Jail under a $750,000 bond each.

“These are repeat offenders,” Turner said of the four suspects, noting each has a history of prior offenses. “We’re just trying to keep them off the street.”

Gulledge, Randy Dale Hollis Sr. and Randy Dale Hollis Jr. have all pleaded guilty to prior drug-related charges.

Unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance is a Class A felony, punishable by up to life in prison upon conviction.