Costa Mesa Meth Bust Leads Leads To 6 Year Old Child Being Taken Into Custody

COSTA MESA, CA

A search warrant served by the Costa Mesa PD at a residence in the 900 block of Joann Street led to the discovery of a suspected methamphetamine lab, a foot pursuit of one of the suspects and a 6 year old being taken into custody by social services Tuesday afternoon.

According to Sgt. Ron Chamberlin of the Costa Mesa PD, Police arrived at the home around 3:30 pm Tuesday at which point Norman Fredrick Graham, Jr., 47, of Costa Mesa, fled the scene, retreating over the backyard fence and through Estancia High School before attempting to escape into Fairview Park.

The chase concluded when police were able to tackle Graham in Fairview Park and take him into custody, said Lt. Marty Carver.

Sabrina Elizabeth Johnson, 36, of Costa Mesa, was arrested at the house where police discovered the tools for making methamphetamine, including a burner, containers and other materials. An ounce of the drug was also found, said Chamberlin.

Graham and Johnson were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, both being held on $250,000 bail for the possession and manufacture of methamphetamine for sale.

Graham has two previous drug convictions: One for drug possession for sale and the other for drug manufacturing. Johnson had been released on bail at the time of her arrest for charges including burglary, identity theft and forgery. Police made clear that meth was not being produced at the time of the arrests but that the lab had been in use previously.

A nearby neighbor said he was aware of the police activity but not any probable danger. “You don’t want to see that happen to anybody – What can you say?” he said. “People make mistakes.”