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Elderly woman finds meth lab in her basement, police say

A Montgomery County man built a meth lab right under his elderly mother's nose and in her own home, according to police.

How much did you try to get away with right under your parents' noses? No matter what it was, you probably weren't 45 years old and it probably wasn't a meth lab. Here's a story out of our sister 'burb, MontCo:

When Francis Nolan III, 45, got in to a fight with his mom, Dian, at the Blue Bell home they share late Saturday morning, mom called the police to sort the fight out, according to court documents.

There was a heavy chemical smell in her house, she told police, and she believed her son had set up a meth lab in her basement, the affidavit said. Dian Nolan, 80, said that she only goes in to the basement to do her laundry but when her daughter, Denise Sylvester, a science major, went looking around downstairs to find the cause of the stench she had found a chemical lab set up behind a piece of sheet rock, according to court documents.

Sylvester then brought her daughter downstairs - to the meth lab - to see if she'd ever seen anything like the set up before, police said. The girl told her mom that she'd seen "similar things on the TV show 'Intervention,'" according to court documents.

Sylvester told police that her brother has bipolar disorder and that he's been moody and experiencing nosebleeds, the affidavit said. For his part, when asked about the operation and the equipment found, Francis Nolan told police he used the stuff for painting, the affidavit said

Police evacuated the house, on Belfry Drive, and nearby neighbors were informed of the incident.

Francis Nolan was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, risking a catastrophe and related charges. His bail was set at $25,000