By Lori EhdeQuick-thinking Pamida employees played a key role in the arrest Thursday of two suspects now facing drug charges.Gregory Stout, 41, Hollandale, and 19-year-old Adam Vanderstoep, Northwood, Iowa, appeared Monday in Rock County District Court.They were arrested Thursday after they and three others attempted to purchase suspicious amounts of cold medicine at Pamida Thursday.Local merchants had been trained in recent years to recognize that ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are key ingredients in the manufacture of methamphetamine.Two of the individuals in Stout’s white minivan entered the store around 11 a.m. and each purchased two boxes of cold medicine. According to the complaint filed in Rock County District Court, the customers were acting suspicious, and a cashier alerted her supervisor.Diane Stearns followed them out to the parking lot and recorded the license plate number and vehicle description and called law enforcement.Two others from the van were on their way into the store, but turned around when they saw Stearns. Stout immediately drove out of the parking lot.The van was about to approach Highway 75 when it met Deputy Nick Schafer pulling off the highway. Stout then veered the van into the Magnolia Steak House parking lot and started walking toward Vern’s Meat Market.According to the complaint, Schafer engaged his squad car lights and told Stout to get back in the vehicle.At that time, he noted three others in the van, Melissa Girvin, 20, James VanRyswyk, 26, and Vanderstoep. Temporarily left behind in Pamida, but also traveling with the group was 29-year-old Jayne Manuel. All are from communities in the Albert Lea area.While waiting for backup, Schafer noticed the individuals attempting to hide things, and the activity caused the van to rock back and forth. When he asked Stout to get out of the vehicle, he appeared “nervous and fidgety,” according to the report.Stout, whose driving privileges had been revoked, told Schaefer he stopped at Pamida for cold medicine “because he had not been feeling well.”Meanwhile Schaefer noticed, in plain view, two four-packs of lithium batteries (lithium is often used in the process of manufacturing meth). Also found were 246 cold tablets and 170 empty blister packets from cold medicine.Deputy Ken Baker and the canine unit assisted in searching the vehicle, and the dog turned up a black film canister containing a white residue that appeared to be meth under the driver’s seat.When questioned, deputies found out that the group had been traveling along I-90 from Yankton to Albert Lea purchasing cold tablets with the intent to make meth. They told investigators that was more or less the point of their trip, and it was their goal to purchase 1,000 pills by the time they reached Albert Lea. They also admitted to using meth along the way, putting it in capsules and swallowing it, and consuming it mixed with Kool-Aid.Stout was charged Monday with fourth-degree controlled substance crime for possessing meth, attempt to manufacture meth and driving after revocation.Vanderstoep was charged with attempt to manufacture meth.Investigator Jeff Wieneke commended the Pamida employees for their role in Thursday’s arrest.“They did a good job of picking up what was going on,” he said.Assistant County Attorney Terry Vajgrt said he’s prosecuting the case under a new law that went into effect Aug. 1.The law makes it a felony to possess ephedrine or pseudoephedrine with the intent to use it in the manufacture of meth. “The state is required to show that they purchased the cold medicine with the intent to make meth. Before, we had to show they were taking a substantial step toward manufacturing meth,” Vajgrt said.“Young people are getting hooked up with people who are making meth, and they are going out and buying cold medicine. … It’s a new law, and people should know it’s a felony to possess these cold products with the intent to manufacture meth. The consequences are serious.”He said in the case of Stout and Vanderstoep, there was clearly enough evidence to connect the possession of cold medicine with the intent to produce meth.Stout remains in custody of the Prairie Justice Center, Worthington, and Vanderstoep posted bond Monday.
