Meth lab found in Hawthorne Hills

The two-story brick house at 5840 Oberlin Ave. N.E. is in the quiet, tidy neighborhood of Hawthorne Hills, where the streets are named after colleges, the trees and gardens are impressively manicured, and residents meet to pull weeds and pool money for crime-watch street signs.

It's the kind of neighborhood, said Jennifer Robertson, a retired flight attendant who lives a few doors down, where people notice if a lawn's looking shabby.

But yesterday morning, police cars and firetrucks and vans rolled up to the house. Seattle police officers said they'd found a methamphetamine lab in the basement and took two men, a woman and a 15-year-old boy into custody for questioning.

"It's surprising, given the history here; it's mostly families of some means, people that have made a living in some honest fashion," said Brad Hislop, a military retiree who lives on the street. Hislop pointed to his other neighbors: professor, doctor, orthodontist, Microsoft employee.

"But I'm not naive: It can happen anywhere."

Police said the lab was discovered by three bail bondsmen who went to the house looking for someone. They didn't find that person, but they either noticed a strange odor or actually saw some chemicals, said Seattle police spokesman Scott Moss. The bondsmen left the house and called police.

The Seattle Fire Department's hazardous-materials team decontaminated the bondsmen and the four people the police took into custody, as a precaution.

Afterward, some neighbors talked about whether they should have been surprised by the clandestine lab, and whether there is such a thing as a safe neighborhood.

Neighbors said the longtime owner of the house died about two years ago, leaving it to his daughter who lived there with friends and family. Since then, neighbors have noticed odd noises, strangers, wood chopping late at night and other unusual behavior.

"This is a relatively homogeneous neighborhood," said David Hartnett, whose wife is the street's block-watch captain. "They really stood out, never made an effort to blend in."

But neighbors admit they had no idea what was really happening inside. They said the daughter wasn't among the people arrested. Police could not confirm this.

Robertson, the retired flight attendant, said, "Nothing surprises me anymore, but you don't want it in your neighborhood. You feel like you've been robbed of that security of knowing your neighbors."

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com