By JOHN SIMERMAN
Staff writer
Sunday, December 29, 1996
SAN RAMON-An investigation into a gunshot
inside a labor training center last week has led to the arrest
of a San Ramon man on suspicion of possessing illegal weapons
and possessing and manufacturing methamphetamine, police said.
His wife was also arrested.
Police searched the couple's Medelia Place
home at 9:45 a.m. Friday. They confiscated six rifles and three
handguns. They also found marijuana, a small amount of methamphetamine
and chemicals. A county Narcotics Enforcement Team found that
some of the chemicals are those used to make methamphetamine,
also known as speed.
Craig Thomas, 36, and his wife, Erica Thomas,
38, were booked at County Jail in Martinez.
On Dec. 16, a shot was fired in the cafeteria
area of the Laborers Training Center on Westside Drive in San
Ramon, where people are trained in a variety of skills, said Sgt.
Jeff Wells. Police determined that Craig Thomas, a trainer there,
was the suspect.
Thomas had denied he shot the semiautomatic
handgun. The bullet ricocheted off the floor and into a wall and
did not injure anyone, police said. In Friday's search, police
confiscated what they said was the same handgun.
"We believe it was accidental,"
said Wells of the shot. "The next question is, why does he
have a weapon on him at work? We haven't figured that one out
yet."
Paul Mountain, task force commander of the
Central Contra Costa County Narcotics Enforcement Team, said they
found a jar with two gallons of what they believe is methamphetamine
oil, which is used to concoct the drug. They also found a filter
with methamphetamine residue, along with other chemicals used
to make the drug, he said.
"The rest of the stuff are items that
can be used in that process, but are also common household products,
like Iye and acetone," he said. Mountain said a lab test
would tell the concentration of the liquid, but added that the
chemicals would not have produced large amounts of the drug.
Craig Thomas was booked on suspicion of possession
of firearms by a convicted felon and possession and manufacture
of methamphetamine. Erica Thomas was booked on suspicion of possession
of marijuana and possession of non-narcotic drugs.
They remained in custody Friday night in
lieu of $60,000 bail for Craig Thomas and $10,000 for Erica Thomas.