Two arrested on drug, gun charges following short standoff with police

Two local residents are being held in the Whitley County Detention Center in lieu of $50,000 cash bonds after being arrested early Thursday morning on methamphetamine and firearms related charges.

During their arraignments Thursday afternoon, District Judge Cathy Prewitt entered automatic not guilty pleas for Cecil B. Hamblin, 52, of 1350 Deep Branch Road, Williamsburg, and Heather Lebanion, 35, of Bacon Creek Road, Corbin, on charges of first-offense manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

Prewitt appointed the public advocate’s office to represent each of defendant, and scheduled an Oct. 10 preliminary hearing in their case.

The couple was arrested about 1 a.m. after Kentucky State Police Troopers Les Moses and Tony Dingess responded to an anonymous tip about a meth lab on Deep Branch Road, which is about seven miles east of Williamsburg, according to arrest citations.

"The caller described the location and suspects. We arrived in the area, and observed a very strong chemical odor," Dingess wrote on arrest citations.

"We proceeded to track the odor from the roadway to the location that the caller had previously described. Upon arrival at the residence, I observed a very strong chemical odor coming from the camper trailer and a vapor/smoke cloud coming from behind the camper."

As Dingess went to the front door, he observed an HCL generator in a green soda bottle with clear tubing protruding from inside it on the countertop, according to the arrest citation.

Dingess also observed Hamblin holding a plastic bag with clear liquid inside it.

When Dingess made contact with Hamblin, he armed himself with a sawed off shotgun, but complied with verbal commands to drop the weapon and exit the residence, Dingess wrote on Hamblin’s arrest citation.

Both officers also observed two active one-step meth labs just inside the doorway of the camper, the citations noted.