One Pot Meth Lab Bottle Explodes Inside of a Vehicle Causing the Drive to Crash

Clarksville, TN – On August 11th, 2011 around 7:10pm, officers responded to a vehicle fire on Martin Luther King Parkway. The vehicle occupants were seen running from the scene.

When officers arrived the vehicle driver was still at the scene but three others had fled on foot. They were all eventually located. One of the passengers, Charles Coates, had sustained second degree burns and was taken by Lifeflight to Vanderbilt.

The investigation into the crash revealed that a 1999 Honda, driven by Christian Riddick, 18, of Tennessee Ridge was traveling east on Martin Luther King Parkway while the passenger, Charles Coates, 24, of TN Ridge, was mixing the ingredients of a One Pot Meth Lab and an explosion occurred.  The driver tried to pull over and struck a concrete culvert, at which time, the vehicle’s gas tank is believed to have exploded engulfing the car in flames.

There were no injuries sustained by any of the vehicle occupants from the crash. Charles Coates sustained second degree burns from the One Pot Meth Lab explosion and is in stable condition.

There is a joint investigation ongoing.  Clarksville Police Department is investigating the crash and the 19th Judicial Task Force is handling the investigation of the meth lab.

Officer Melissa Spielhagen is the lead investigator on the crash. Contact Lt Jesse Reynolds on the meth lab investigation, 931.320.3510.

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