NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- Deputies in North Charleston found a meth lab in a hotel room after making an arrest there earlier in the day.
According to Mike Stanley with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, officers arrested a man at the Extended Stay America Value Place on Northside Drive around 1 p.m. The man was wanted for violating check law, Stanley said.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Michael Lee Collins, Jr. of Summerville. He's been charged with forgery and manufacturing/distributing illegal substances.
Deputies said they checked the Collins' vehicle and found materials inside that could be used for making meth. Deputies said they then learned Collins was staying at the hotel, which led to a search of his room and the entire building.
In his room, officials found an active meth lab.
Residents of the hotel said they had been smelling strange odors for a few days.
"What scared me the most was I was smelling something in the hallway and the elevator and I said something earlier today to the one maintenance guy," said Ruth Crosby, who has been living at the motel for the last month. "I said, 'Do y'all have a cat in the building?' because it smelled like ammonia and some people said gas. I smelled what I thought was cat urine."
People displaced by the search were provided free food and drinks by the employees of the hotel.
Collins was given a $110,000 bond on Thursday. The forgery charge garnered a $10,000 bond and the $100,000 bond was given for manufacturing meth.
Michael Collins (provided)
