Police: Man Arrested for Suspected Meth Cook Under the Iowa Avenue Bridge

If you passed over the Iowa Avenue bridge the other day, you may or may not have traveled over a meth cook in progress.

An Iowa City man was arrested Tuesday afternoon under the Iowa Avenue bridge a charged with felony possession of materials used to produce methamphetamine.

According to an Iowa City Police criminal complaint, Jesse Leigh McBurney, 33, of Iowa City (address listed as the Iowa Avenue bridge) was contacted by police officers at 3:42 p.m. Wednesday afternoon under the east side of the bridge.

Officers had tracked down the complaint because they had been alerted that McBurney had purchased two packages of pseudophedrine in the last two days. According to police, McBurney is known locally as a methamphetamine cook and has prior charges for producing meth.

McBurney was allegedly found with Coleman camping fuel, coldpacks, and other meth making materials. McBurney denied owning the materials, but admitted that he had a meth problem and had made meth in the past. He also allegedly admitted to having a friend buy the package of pseudophedrine for him for $40.

Possession of meth making precursors is a Class D felony.

McBurney is accused of the same charge for another meth cooking incident on May 13. A fire alarm alerted police to 716 N. Dubuque Street at 10:40 p.m. According to police complaints, the fire department found that the source was an apartment within the building, where they discovered a plastic bottle partially full of an odd yellowish liquid with unusual tubing coming from the bottle. The items located nearby included Coleman fuel, aluminum foil, coffee filters with meth residue, a peeled lithium battery and other material consistent with the making of meth.

The resident of the apartment, who police believe was McBurney, fled before police he could be questioned by police