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Sonic manager accused of cooking meth in restaurant

By Christy Hendricks

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - Police arrested a Sonic shift manager after he was caught early Thursday morning with meth making products at a Cape Girardeau restaurant.

Dennie L. Bratcher, 27, of Cape Girardeau faces second degree burglary and attempted manufacture of methamphetamine charges.

An officer noticed Bratcher trying to enter a vehicle through the passenger side at the Sonic at 2126 Broadway at 1:57 a.m. Thursday.

Officers found a bottle containing Lythium, Coleman Fuel, two boxes of Sudafed 12hr, Ammonia Nitrate, and Lye in the Sonic restaurant, according to the probable cause statement. Police also found a plastic bottle with a white powdery substance inside the bottle and pre cursors to meth like coffee filters, and a pill grinder.

Police found a ladder leading to the roof of the building.

According to Cape Girardeau officers, Bratcher told police he had planned to make the drug on the roof, but it was too cold so he headed for the kitchen.

"He'd definitely taken several steps to start the process. There were active chemicals . The pressure had to be released in one of the containers because it was building up. It was a situation that could have been much worse", Sgt. Jason Selzer-Cape Girardeau Police.

Workers spent all day Thursday cleaning and throwing out pretty much everything in the restaurant.

The Cape Girardeau Public Health Center was called in to assist with the matter.

Environmental Public Health Specialist Amy Morris says they're treating this situation like a store wide contamination.

"They are getting rid of everything. We are talking everything from sugar packets, to hamburgers to straws, to the ice cream and soda in the machines", said Morris.

The Broadway Sonic could open as early as Friday morning, pending a through inspection by the health department.

Dennie Bratcher's bond is set at $30,000.

There was also a warrant out for his arrest from Ste. Genevieve for reportedly failing to appear in court because of a speeding violation.

Bratcher was convicted of felony burglary in New Madrid County in 2000.

In an unrelated article...

Also from the KFVS TV Channel 12 Website...

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Pseudoephedrine may require prescription in Poplar Bluff

By Tyler Profilet

POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KFVS) - Pseudoephedrine is the only ingredient in meth in which there is no substitute.

And now, police and pharmacists want to make sure everyone who wants to purchase pseudoephedrine has a prescription.

"We know we have a problem with the Smurfing as they call it."

Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley says pharmacists in town see it all the time.

It's called smurfing, and it's the process meth makers use to avoid suspicion while buying pseudoephedrine.

"They'll come in, buy it, go back out to the car. Then another person will come in. Usually these people are from out of town, or even out of state," said pharmacist Dr. Marty Michel.

So the police department is trying to pass an ordinance that would require everyone to have a doctor's prescription before buying pseudoephedrine.

"It will, I think, dramatically reduce the smurfing, or going around to other pharmacies, using different IDs, and using three or four people at a time," said Whiteley.

"It troubles me that we have to do this, but I think that problems with meth are affecting so many people that I think we've been forced to this," said general practioner Dr. Dorothy Munch.

Dr. Munch says there are several alternative drugs to pseudoephedrine if you have the sniffles. She also says prescriptions can be called in and filled quickly.

"We turn our prescriptions around in one day on something like this," Dr. Munch said. "Not being a controlled substance as far as us, I think that would be pretty easy."

Dr. Michel also says the ordinance is a better alternative to a list of people who can't buy the drug, and will make his job easier.

"We don't need to be the police. The police need to monitoring that," he said.