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Hazmat crew responds to Desert Hills hotel
At least 1 arrested; situation under investigation

By Staff Reports
Today's News-Herald
Published Tuesday, June 2, 2009 9:15 PM MST

An investigation of hazardous materials at a Desert Hills hotel left several residents out of their rooms Tuesday and led to the arrest of an unidentified suspect.

Tony Waggoner/News-Herald Photo. Hazmat officers were called out to investigate and collect a possible hazardous material at the Twin Palms Inn hotel in Desert Hills Tuesday. Officers were still determining the nature of the substance late Tuesday afternoon.

Desert Hills Fire Department Chief Mathew Espinoza said firefighters were doing a routine inspection of the Twin Palms Inn on London Bridge Road, when they were refused entry by a worker on duty in the front office.

Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene. Upon entry, Espinoza said they found the male worker dumping what could have been hazardous materials into the office toilet.

Hazardous Response Services and the Mohave Area General Narcotics Enforcement Team both arrived, as at least eight guests or tenants of the hotel were evacuated from their rooms and placed under a cooling tent in the outer parking lot for several hours, while officers from both agencies worked to determine the nature of the material.

Lt. Randy Johnson with the Mohave County Sheriff’s office said at least one person was arrested on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia. Johnson said he was not sure if what was dumped down the toilet was drug-related, but he did not believe it to be.

Hazmat services took samples from the hotel septic tank but were still trying to identify the hazardous material late Tuesday afternoon.

Johnson said more information, including the name of the suspect and type of hazardous material, should be available Wednesday.

According to Espinoza the hotel owner would have to pay a septic tank company from Phoenix to come and clean the hotel’s tank, as a result of the dumping of hazardous material.

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Comments (24 comment(s))

MN wrote on Jun 10, 2009 5:26 PM:

" The only one invading our homes is the President and his party! "

cal/hav wrote on Jun 8, 2009 5:28 PM:

" It's Called job justification. Told you when they ran out of tourist they would start invading your homes and businesses. "

man in the shadows wrote on Jun 8, 2009 1:12 PM:

" Northbound, I dont know if what you wrote is a good thing to say. Comparing people that live in Havasu to people that live in Desert hill and Crystal Beach. If you run around this town and know anything about this town, there are far more scum bags in Havasu than in Desert Hills or Crystal Beach combined. They hide amoung us cooking up meth, robbing us while we sleep and then going into hiding again amoung us. There are criminals here in Havasu that are hiding out here from thier crimes committed in other states. There are gang bangers and other street level criminals hiding here amoung us in Havasu. I dont know what has prompted this conversation degrading the people of Desert Hills and Crystal Beach who own property and live a simple and less expensive life style or maybe they live within thier means. Dont be fooled by the outward and obvious beauty of Havasu it has a dirty under belly. Its just shameful that people think and voice an opinion of Desert Hills and Crystal Beach just because its not in Lake Havasu. "

MN wrote on Jun 7, 2009 5:50 PM:

" I remember when main street was dirt! I am happy that we have advanced! "

bill516 wrote on Jun 7, 2009 7:54 AM:

" Is gasoline a precursor to meth production?,I have no clue! "

Had it with Havasu wrote on Jun 6, 2009 8:11 AM:

" Gotta agree with the snob thing. Too many here act as if Havasu is superior. Havasu was a great place to live and still is. Havasu will always be a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. And being that it is delicate. Those of us who love it for what it was understand that those who came here in the last 10 or 12 years to speculate and manipulate have destroyed much of what makes this place so great.

That is why I love this economic disaster our nation is plunging into. It affords us the opportunity to regain a lot of what Havasu has lost. We can regain our sense of community and together drive out corruption and crime and drugs. City Hall can't do that, they are too busy padding their umbrellas. The PD can't do it, they are too busy pursuing their own ends as well. "

northbound wrote on Jun 5, 2009 10:05 PM:

" cawomen: Maybe where ever you lived in Havasu it was dirty. But you have a lot of nerve calling Havasu a filthy town compaired to some of the filth that lives in desert hills,crystal beach. Maybe you should come back and tour our town again, it's NO down town phoenix by far. And maybe we don't want your family living here after all. "

Roco wrote on Jun 5, 2009 2:58 PM:

" To "lots of snobs here": THANK YOU!!! You hit it on the head!!! Too many people here think they are better than everyone else. If more people would get off of their "high-horses", and treat others with some respect, life in LHC would be much better. By the way, I don't treat people according to what they owned, but what their attitude is to others. I know this is not in line with the story, but we all seem to drift from the topic. So, don't slam me too much. (Just kidding.) "

lots of snobs here wrote on Jun 5, 2009 4:32 AM:

" It amazes me how snobbish people who post comments here are. I've lived in Havasu for 38 years - ALL houses were modest, so were the cars - and boats, when I moved here. Oh but now that there's big oversized expensive homes everywhere, suddenly everyone that lives in the city limits is better than everyone who doesn't. In case you all weren't aware - big is out, small is in. As in lower electric bills, lower consumption in general. And who wants to pay huge property tax bills? Not me! I've lived in Crystal Beach since 1976, I knew the first time I drove down Fathom that this was home for me. I like having an acre of land that I bought for $10,000 where I can keep my horses and eat my own fresh eggs from my chickens. We have our own wells and we like it that way. Not everyone wants to live in the city or in big oversized overconsuming houses, so please, quit putting down Crystal Beach and Desert Hills. There's nothing wrong with mobile homes. We also have lots of senior citizens out here. Quit thinking EVERYONE has to live like EVERYONE else. Live and Let Live... for crying out loud. "

pars424 wrote on Jun 4, 2009 7:02 PM:

" wow, you all are such buzz kills! do you really think your havasu is the only town in america fighting drugs?come to so cal ,u havnt seen drug problems!!long beach is a nightmare! bullets flying ,ghetto bird in the sky every night !bars on our windows,people shot for no reason!not to mention smog and arnold!! so come on lets compare!i only wish we had the problems you complain of!you have an awsome city,embrace it and be thankfull!! "

Had it with Havasu wrote on Jun 4, 2009 4:54 PM:

" I think people and police and the fire department are making a big deal out of next to nothing.

Drug paraphernalia can be a piece of tin foil with a burned spot on it. A bent coke can with a hole in it.

Seems like the guy isn't real bright to start with. Something I always liked about Havasu was that people trying to dispose of illegal drugs would flush them only to find out the drugs end up in a septic tank where the police can retrieve them...busted!

The drug problems in Havasu proper are astonishing. How can we effectively reduce the real threat? "

MN wrote on Jun 4, 2009 5:05 AM:

" ka "learn how to read"? It said, what he dumped into the toilet did not seem to be drug related-HOWEVER, he was arrested for DRUG PARAPHERNALIA! BIRDS OF A FEATHER-hmmm. "

ka wrote on Jun 3, 2009 7:22 PM:

" I seem to notice that everytime I read these comments, its always the same people bashing each other on here. Lake Havasu may have its problems, but why did you guys move here if you hate it so bad? Good job to the firefighters for finding whatever it is they found. People need to learn how to read. They said they did not believe it to be drug related. "

LHCMOM wrote on Jun 3, 2009 4:36 PM:

" man in the shadows - I am not well to do by any means and I don't look down on people who are less fortunate. As a matter of fact on several occasions I have bought food & water for those standing on the side of the street holding signs. But, I did live in Crystal Beach for 2 years and in Desert Hills for 2+ years. My husband was a volunteer on the DHFD...we lived around plenty of low lifes in both areas and saw more than one drug deal "go down". I didn't mean that everyone out there was that way, however...most are and most people know it. I was just trying to point out to someone else that not all of Havasu is bad and that there are worse places to live. By the way, even if I was well to do, it would only be because I chose to do something about my situation and want better for myself. But hey, thank you for your opinion! "

pat wrote on Jun 3, 2009 3:46 PM:

" Wow, I have friends in Crystal Beach....Certainly NOT low lifes. lhcmom: get out of the house a little more and take a real good look around you. "

rivr5150 wrote on Jun 3, 2009 3:18 PM:

" we all know havasu has a meth problem,now it has less of a problem, good find keep up the good work "

man in the shadows wrote on Jun 3, 2009 1:14 PM:

" LHCMOM: WOW nice statement, I would guess that you are well to do and have not been forced to live in a place that you could afford. To lump this activity with all the good people that may live in Desert Hills or Crystal Beach because they cant afford a 200 thousand dollar plus home must mean that they are low lifes. You should be ashamed of what you wrote as I am ashamed to be in a town that would look down thier noses at people that may be less fortunate than others. SHAME ON YOU "

brightone wrote on Jun 3, 2009 11:43 AM:

" cawoman is one we must all bow down to, for she is one of the Beverly Hills elite! Keep 'em coming! BEERS! "

lhcborn wrote on Jun 3, 2009 9:52 AM:

" cawomen- You might call Havasu a filthy town but it's cleaner then A LOT of places I have been. It's your choice to live somewhere else but you don't have to diss the town we live in. "

LHCMOM wrote on Jun 3, 2009 8:37 AM:

" Anyone who has been around Havasu long enough knows what type of people live at the Twin Palms and what type of activities go on there...the place should be torn down. And cawoman, have you ever been to Kingman or Bullhead? Talk about a dirty place to live...not all of Havasu is like the Desert Hills/Crystal Beach areas. "

cawomen wrote on Jun 3, 2009 7:32 AM:

" Thats funny,you know how many flushed their toliet when you all did that..Used to live in havasu have a daughter and I would never let her live in a filthy town like i used to.. "

law wrote on Jun 3, 2009 6:40 AM:

" Something funny going on!! Good job Fire Department!!! "

northbound wrote on Jun 3, 2009 1:24 AM:

" Duh why did they call out NTF? Oh could it be a drug lab. Well thats no suprise. "

bob from ventura wrote on Jun 2, 2009 10:31 PM:

" Espinoza is in deep doo-doo now! I wonder why, if not drug precursors, he was in such a hurry to take a dump in the tank so quickly when the cops showed up? "

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