Detectives are trying to track down a group of men they say housed an illegal moonshine operation in a Springdale home.
Police responded to 1104 Highland St. on Tuesday in reference to a call of a suspicious odor. Officers gained entrance to the home while the potential suspects were gone and found an illegal alcohol operation inside, according to Springdale police.
Neighbor John Shipley said he knew what was going on inside the home.
“I saw the actual still, seen it carried right into the house and these big bottles that they had the corn mash in, seen them carry that in,” said Shipley.
Other neighbors say they watched as police searched the home and seized the still.
“They pulled out two big piles of corn in the back when they condemned the house,” said neighbor Rex Spradling.
Lt. Derek Hudson said the home was condemned, deemed unsafe to live in by city building inspectors.
Police received calls from neighbors about strong odors coming from the home, according to Hudson.
“Oh yeah you can smell odors every time you were down around that place,” added Shipley.
Before discovering the still investigators said they weren’t sure what was causing the strong odor because moonshine operations are not common, especially in a populated area such as this.
“We don’t deal with a lot of that within the city limits at least not my career that I`ve dealt with this and I think that`s when the original officers went out there they thought they might have had a meth lab because of what they were looking at and later determined it was a moonshine still,” said Hudson.
Deputy Director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control, Rick Crisman said Springdale investigators called him to help identify if it was a moonshine still that was in the home.
“The coil, the worm that`s the main part to make distilled spirits, you got to have that or you can’t make it and that’s the key component of what you look for,” said Crisman.
“Detectives are still working on the case,” said Springdale police public information officer Derek Hudson. “They are interviewing a suspect this week and may make an arrest.”
