From staff reports
BIRMINGHAM — Just after 10 pm last night Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies received information that a wanted person was staying at a home in the 4900 block of Fulmar Drive in Irondale. Joseph Duane Essig, 41, of Birmingham, was wanted on felony warrants for failure to appear for an original charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle.
Deputies, along with Irondale police, went to the address to locate Essig. When deputies knocked on the door and informed the homeowner why they were therem the homeowner indicated Essig was downstairs in the basement and allowed deputies into the residence to arrest him.
As deputies entered the basement they found an active meth lab on top of a washer and dryer. Deputies escorted two men and a woman out of the residence and called for deputies from the sheriff’s narcotics unit to assist. Narcotics deputies secured the lab and collected evidence.
Three of the people removed from the home were found to have outstanding warrants. Essig was arrested for the outstanding warrants. He was also charged with unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. He remains in the Jefferson County jail with no bond.
Clipper Keith Crawford, 40, of Tarrant, was arrested and turned over to Gardendale police for an outstanding warrant. Stephanie Allen Cox, 37, was arrested and turned over to Walker County sheriff’s deputies for an outstanding warrant.