Anyone know of a legitimate use for old batteries??

Friday night, Neil got home around 8:30 and bid farewell to his guys for the weekend. He was heading into the house about 8:45 when a car pulled up.

In our lawn. On the super-mushy soft grass.

Yes, this did damage and irritated him straight off.

The guy behind the wheel of the old beater (think missing front grill) rolled down his window and asked Neil, "Hey, you got any used batteries you don't want?"

Neil, unusually gruff, answered, "No. Who are you?!"

The man answered, "Eric Schlangen." He did not introduce the teenage boy in the passenger seat.

"Where are you from?" asked Neil.

"Paynesville. Yeah, most people think we're just looking for old batteries to use to make meth."

Neil answered, "Well, you drive an old beater onto my lawn in the pitch black of a Friday night and ask me for used batteries; it don't look very good, that's for sure!"

The guy didn't even pause. He asked, "Do any of your neighbors have any?" and basically drove off.

When Neil relayed this strange story to me, I wondered what on earth OTHER use they would have for old batteries. Neil insists (always giving people the benefit of the doubt!) that because the guy brought it up and had what appeared to be his son with him, that it wasn't for meth use.

I disagree.

Having been around meth users I can say that in general they are more desperate than intelligent and the guy is certainly MORE suspicious for bringing it up in the first place.

Anyway, living in a pretty rural home, I try and keep my eyes out for stuff like this, knowing that meth labs are pretty well-known to be a rural phenomenon. I'm also concerned about people driving in and scoping out our property with plans to come back for a raid later (if you know anything about tools/etc. it'd be pretty easy to make off with $100's or $1,000's of dollars of stuff from properties like ours). I'm glad I live within sight of the highway, which is a bit of a deterrant to thieves.

Crazy.

I've also had some scary/heartbreaking/life-changing experiences with meth and am determined to fight this plague in my community. THE FIGHT CAN BE WON!

Comments

[cheryl]

wow, that is crazy.

Fight on!

[Rhonda]

Well now I'm curious. I even googled "used batteries" but didn't come up with much. I think that would bother me if that happened to me, cause it just doesn't make sense??? Hope you find out more.
Always enjoy your posts!

[jodi]

Hey Ashlee,
Just out of curiosity I did a quick jail search and that name comes up. Although there are surely more than a couple of guys with that same name?

http://www.co.stearns.mn.us/OnlineServices/PastInmateSearch

In any case I hope Neil scared him off. Creepy.

[Ashlee]

Eek! Thanks Jodi! I hadn't thought of it, though I only hesitated for a split second before printing the name he gave. I figured, all I'm doing is reporting the facts, right? He gave that as his name and Paynesville as his home.

So, going on that link, I also found this:

http://www.paynesvillearea.com/news/headlinesarticles/archives/040898/Paynesvillemancharges.html

This article describes the guy as having criminal sexual assault charges from fondling a boy in his care. Oh yes, and this happened in Zion Township -- a stone's throw from our place.

Of course, that was over ten years ago, but there were also related arrests in 2003.

I'm not here to smear anyone's name around, but I DO need to be cautious -- especially when I have children in my care.

And my local police chief told Neil personally that it makes him sick, but the law prohibits him from telling us that there are several sex offenders living within an uncomfortable radius of us. Their "level" of sex offense supposedly does not warrant giving neighborhoods any warning, though. This goes on in small and large towns across Minnesota, folks! Don't assume your neighborhood is safe just because you don't know.
Last summer, I was overjoyed to see the sex offender that had moved into my next-door-neighbor's house get kicked to the curb. He was convicted of having sex with a minor (she was 13, he was 28). Even though my kids aren't that age, what about my 13 year old babysitters? It's ridiculous that we should have to know this kind of stuff, but I'd rather be safe than very very sorry...

oh, and sorry to stray from meth, but it just seems that meth has a way of following trouble. (and, of course, trouble follows meth. it's a vicious cycle)

[Jodi]

I work with the PD on a daily basis and most people would not BELIEVE the stuff that goes on in our small communities. Spending the majority of my 'off work' time with God fearing Christians makes it convenient at times to forget the reality of the evil that is in the world. Of course we don't want to spend a lot of energy on fear and cynicism but you are so right Ashlee, we absolutely have to be cautious as well as to pray the Lords dominion to reign in our communities.

[Nancy]

Are you talking about car batteries or just like AA's? In either case, I had no idea they were used to make meth..