3 Arrested In Melrose With Alleged Meth, Guns, Banned Substance

MELROSE - Three people were arrested in Melrose.  The Stearns County Sheriff's Department says the arrests were made back on April 13th, but they're just releasing the information now.

The Central Minnesota Drug and Gang Task Force and the Stearns/Benton SERT Team used a search warrant at 43rd Street Southeast in Melrose.

The three people arrested were 45-year-old Ross Rittgers and 45-year-old Janell Rittgers of Melrose, and 31-year-old Leslie Umpleby of St. Paul.

Investigators seized 54 grams of methamphetamine, a .22 handgun, a disassembled machine gun kit, and $8,000 in cash.  A glass container with Carbon Tetrachloride was also found.  That's a substance used in old fire extinguishers, but has been banned since 1980.  It's a substance that can damage the central nervous system, liver and kidneys.  Blasting caps were also removed from the home.