Police find suspected meth lab in Montco hotel

Police have dismantled a suspected mobile meth lab found inside a Montgomery County hotel. Investigators are now searching for a suspect who allegedly jumped from a third-floor window to escape officers.

An informant reportedly tipped off police that 30-year-old Gary Long was renting a room at the Days Inn, located at 245 Easton Rd. in Horsham.

Officers responded to the hotel room shortly before 1:15 p.m. in an attempt to serve a theft-related arrest warrant out of Northampton Township.

But when they knocked on the door, Long allegedly jumped from a third-floor window and into a mulch pile.

Police said a detective entering Long's room observed what he believed to be chemicals typically used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

"He backed out of the room, to be cautious," Lt. Jon Clark of the Horsham Township Police Department said. "The chemicals sometimes can be very dangerous to your health –to breathe, to touch – and they can explode."

The crowded Days Inn was evacuated as a state police team trained in dealing with volatile substances responded.

"It was quite a hailstorm, to be frank, until we got things under control." Clark said.

He said the chemicals were found to be noncombustible, and guests were allowed back into the hotel around 4:30 p.m.

Long had not yet been located Friday evening.

Fire crews and police personnel from multiple jurisdictions remained on the scene as they searched for the suspect and continued to process the hotel room.