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Rape suspect arrested; lab raided |
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Thursday, 30 August 2007 |
The Saline County Sheriff's Office helped clean the county of criminal activities in two separate incidents recently.
One incident involved the arrest of a rape suspect in Mabelvale. In the other, officers closed a methamphetamine lab in Benton.
Acting on a tip, Saline County sheriff's detectives obtained an arrest warrant for James Thomas Vehmeier, 32, of Mabelvale for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl female in August.
Vehmeier, who is said to be a friend of the family of the victim, has been charged with two counts of rape.
"I think that evidence will show that he raped the victim on two different occasions," said Capt. Jason Massey, in explaining why Vehmeier is being charged with two counts of rape. "He knew the family ... he was familiar with the victim."
Vehmeier, who reportedly has no prior convictions, was handcuffed Friday at his house and taken without incident to the Saline County jail. At a hearing on Monday, a $50,000 bond was set for Vehmeier and, according to jail officials, he posted bail Wednesday.
Although the Saline County Sheriff's Department regularly conduct sting operations to apprehend sexual predators involving adults and underage children, Massey said this particular incident was not in correlation with any of these.
"We still have sting operations," Massey said. "We have several different profiles on many different Web sites, and we have officers on them at all different times to catch these criminals ... but this [incident] was not because of those operations."
Also on Friday, Aug. 24 narcotics detectives with the Saline County Sheriff's Office went to 4125 Hurricane Shores Drive on Friday after receiving information that a "meth cook" was at the site.
"We got tips about this property and our detectives went to investigate," Massey said.
When detectives arrived, they reportedly spoke with Billy Wilkerson, 49, and Chenoa Perero, 37, who reside in a mobile home at the rear of the property, and observed items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Detectives then obtained a search warrant for the property and found a meth lab inside the trailer, Massey said.
"We get tips all the time about places like this," Massey said. "This is a case of our detectives following up on those tips and putting them into effect."
Wilkerson and Perero were taken to the Saline County jail and charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, a class Y felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a class C felony; and maintaining a drug premise, a class B felony.
At a bond hearing on Monday, a $5,000 bond was set for each man. Jail officials said both Wilkerson and Perero were released on ail Wednesday.
To report information involving drug activity to the Saline County Sheriff's Office, call 315-DRUG.
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