Douglas Walker

dwalker@muncie.gannett.com

State police said they found a meth lab in the bed of a vehicle parked on the city's southeast side.

A Muncie woman said she was in the process of preparing a batch of meth at the time of her arrest.

MUNCIE – A Muncie woman last week shared a recipe with an Indiana State Police trooper, but it wasn't for eggnog or holiday fruitcake.

Amanda Michelle Doss, 27, 404 W. Seventh St., provided the trooper with her "recipe for how she manufactures methamphetamine," according to an affidavit.

Doss and Richard Bart Stiffler, 55, 205 N. Eucalyptus Court, Yorktown, were arrested early Friday. The Chevrolet El Camino they were riding in was determined to have a meth lab in its bed.

Stiffler, who had been driving the vehicle before authorities approached it near Memorial and Burlington drives, was preliminarily charged with manufacturing meth, possession of precursors and maintaining a common nuisance.

Doss was charged with the same counts and unlawful possession of a syringe, which authorities said she was storing in her bra. Five other syringes were found in her purse.

Interviewed later, Doss told troopers she and Stiffler "were nervous in the vehicle due to the methamphetamine lab in it." She also said she was on her way to complete a batch of meth at the time she was arrested.

Doss was being held in the Delaware County jail under a $20,000 bond. Court records reflect no prior charges against the Muncie woman.

Stiffler, the target of an unrelated Muncie City Court warrant, was being held without bond. He has twice been convicted of intimidation in southeastern Indiana's Dearborn County, and twice convicted of driving while intoxicated locally, most recently last February.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.