Breaking Bad! Two chemistry professors are arrested for ‘cooking methamphetamine at Arkansas university’
- Bradley Allen Rowland, 40, and Terry Bateman, 45, are accused of making methamphetamine
- Both men are both associate professors of chemistry at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas
- A university science lab was closed on October 8 due to an unusual order and was investigated
- School officials would not confirm what the report found or if the men allegedly used school property to make methamphetamine
- Rowland and Bateman were placed on administrative leave
- AMC’s Breaking Bad was a TV show focused on a high school chemistry teacher who manufactured crystal meth
Two Arkansas chemistry professors have been accused of making methamphetamine in scenes similar to those seen in the TV show Breaking Bad.
Bradley Allen Rowland, 40, and Terry Bateman, 45, were taken into police custody on Friday afternoon, according to a press release from the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.
Rowland and Bateman, who are both associate professors of chemistry at Henderson State University in Arkadelpia, Arkansas, were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and using drug paraphernalia.
Chemistry professors Terry Bateman (left) and Bradley Allen Rowland (right) have been accused of making methamphetamine
A university science center was closed on October 8 after a chemical odor was reported, Tina Hall, the university’s associate vice president of marketing and communications, told CNN.
After an environmental service completed remediation work, including air filtering systems and temporarily removing some windows for ventilation, the building was reopened on October 29.
Lab tests reportedly found traces of Benzyl chloride, a chemical that can be used to synthesize methamphetamine, among other uses.
Hall would not confirm that Rowland and Bateman were suspected of using school property to make meth.
Both men were placed on administrative leave on October 11.
A science center at Henderson State University (pictured) was closed on October 8 due to a chemical odor, but school officials would not confirm the source of the odor
Rowland was called ‘Henderson’s Heisenberg’ by the school paper Oracle Online, a reference to AMC’s TV show Breaking Bad (pictured)
They are scheduled to appear in the Clark County District Court once charges are formally agreed upon by the prosecutor.
The investigation is ongoing.
KATV reports that Rowland was at one time referred to ‘Henderson’s Heisenberg’ in the school’s paper.
‘Heisenberg’ refers to the alias of AMC’s Breaking Bad character Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who manufactures crystal meth to secure his family’s finances after he is diagnosed with lung cancer.
Rowland told the Oracle Online in a 2014 interview that he liked the show and said it helped younger audiences become interested in chemistry.
He said: ‘I thought it was a great show. It was spot on and accurate when it came to the science, and, it has gotten a younger, newer generation interested in chemistry. I feel like it was a wonderful recruiting tool.’