A victim’s suspicions about who stole his dirt bike led investigators to the scene of three working methamphetamine labs.

The victim reported the theft to the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday. The victim said the vehicle was stolen from a home in the 9000 block of U.S. Highway 11 in the Ozona Community, said Chief Investigator Donnie Saucier.

The victim’s report listed the suspect as 33 year-old Leonard David Sones Jr., of 28 John Amacker Rd. Investigators went to Sones’ home to speak with him about the dirt bike’s theft. Investigators were able to locate the stolen dirt bike in a field on his property.

While they were speaking with Sones, another man pulled up to the home, later identified as Adam Wells, 25, of 59 American Sand and Gravel Rd. After he pulled into the property and saw that Sheriff’s Department investigators were there, he got out of his car and ran, causing investigators to run after him.

The investigators were unable to catch Wells during the pursuit, but did stumble across three active methamphetamine labs on Sones’ property along with some finished product.

Sones was taken into custody for the theft of the dirt bike, manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of methamphetamine.

Additional investigation into the incident determined that Wells allegedly was bringing ingredients to make more of the drug and was involved in the manufacture of meth at that location earlier in the day.

Investigators continued their search for Wells the rest of that evening and night. Wells was spotted at about 9 a.m. Wednesday riding in the passenger seat of another vehicle. The vehicle was stopped and, as the driver complied with deputies’ requests, Wells got out of the passenger side of the vehicle and again fled on foot, Saucier said.

K-9 investigator George Dominguez heard the call for assistance from the deputies on the scene and arrived with his dog Bartja. Dominguez saw Wells running in the area of U.S. 11 and commanded the suspect to stop or the deputy would release the dog. Bartja was released when Wells didn’t stop and apprehended him.

At the time of Wells’ arrest he was wanted for manufacture of methamphetamine based on evidence from the previous day’s discovery. He had precursor chemicals on him at the time of his arrest and was charged with their possession, Saucier said.

The stolen dirt bike was returned to its owner.