Former NJ cop admits to making methamphetamine at home

FREEHOLD, N.J. - A former New Jersey police officer has admitted operating a methamphetamine lab at his home.

Christopher Walls, 50, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance and to causing a risk of widespread injury.

Under terms of a plea agreement with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, Walls faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in January. He also must forfeit his public office and his firearms.

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The 19-year veteran of the Long Branch Police Department was suspended without pay following his arrest in May.

The lab was discovered when police responded to a domestic disturbance call at Walls’ home in Long Branch and someone there told officers about it, authorities said. A state police hazmat team responded and found equipment and substances commonly used to make meth in the home’s basement and in a shed on the property, authorities said, along with books about making the drug, explosives and poison.

Authorities also found an open, unsecured gun safe with two long guns, four handguns, eight high-capacity magazines and ammunition inside. The safe was accessible to a child living in the home, police said.