A Lincoln
County
Chris Wilkinson says he plans to resign as pastor of Morning
Star Community Church in Hamlin.
Wilkinson says some church members were unhappy with his
decision to let police use the bus.
The meth bust happened last Thursday night in Little Harts
Creek.
Jeremy Maynard, Mark Vance, and Jeremy Collins were arrested,
according to Lincoln Sheriff’s deputies.
Deputies said Maynard had an active shake-and-bake lab inside
his house and tried to hide it from view, while Vance had meth-making supplies
around his camper. Investigators said Collins helped Maynard and Vance make the
drug.
Lincoln County Chief Sheriff's Deputy J.J. Napier says the
church bus allowed officers to surprise the suspects.
Napier says as officers piled out of the church bus, the
reaction from the suspects was, "Oh God, they've got me."
Napier says he believes the mayor did the Christian thing.
Wilkinson, who is also Hamlin's mayor and police chief, says he
has no regrets about lending the bus and would do it again.
Sheriff's Deputies, West Virginia State Police and Hamlin Police
officers combined efforts in the bust.
Wilkinson said he was surprised his decision upset his
congregation, because he’d allowed State Police to use the bus in a meth bust a
few months ago, and no complaints were made.
The church treasurer who called the pastor and asked him to
resign said she felt the use of the bus was inappropriate because if it had
been damaged, the church's insurance wouldn't have covered it, and also because
the church pays for the gas.
