When concerned motorists called to report a vehicle being driven erratically
on Minton Road early Saturday morning, Palm Bay police responded and stopped
the vehicle on Santo Domingo Avenue. The unidentified driver of the vehicle
was arrested and charged with a DUI.
After arresting the driver, officers found what appeared to be a mobile
meth lab in a cooler in the back seat of the car. The officers secured
the vehicle, cordoned off the area, and then summoned the Brevard County
Sheriff’s Office Meth Disposal Team to remove the hazard from the
scene. Once removed, the area was once again open to traffic later that day.
On Wednesday, Palm Bay police identified the man driving the car with the
portable meth lab as Christopher Faella. According to police records,
the 27-year-old man has been in trouble with the law both as a juvenile
and as an adult. He was first arrested in 2000 at the age of fifteen on
the charge of making a destructive device and making a false police report, as well.
Since his first arrest, Faella has had numerous convictions for drug and
possession of drug paraphernalia, and a conviction for robbery, as well.
According to court records, he was arrested four days before this last
arrest on the DUI charge, on charges of resisting an officer, possession
of cannabis, drug paraphernalia and amphetamines. He was released after
posting bond.
Although police records show that Faella has no charges relating to the
alleged meth lab instruments found in the cooler in the back seat of the
car he was driving, they state the investigation into the portable meth
lab case is ongoing. Faella is being held in jail on a $1,500 bond.