Simpsonville Man Arrested with Meth Near Hillcrest High

A Simpsonville man faces a slew of drug charges after he was arrested near Hillcrest High School, a Simpsonville Police report said.

Officers stopped Benjamin Gray Eller, 31, of Simpsonville earlier this month at the Walmart on Grandview Drive across the highway from the school after receiving a report of a suspicious person matching his description at the nearby Walgreen's. Eller was suspected of trying to lure a stranger at Walgreen's to purchase pseudoephedrine, which is used to make methamphetamine, the report said.

A warrant check on Eller came back clear, but an officer said he recognized the name from a recent meth lab investigation in which two people alleged Eller had been manufacturing the drug, the report said.

After giving consent to search his car, officers found two hypodermic needles and two baggies containing a white powdery substance that a field lab test showed contained a combined 3 grams of meth, the report said.

Officers also found an eight-pack of Energizer lithium batteries, which also are used in manufacturing meth, the report said.

Eller told police that the drugs didn't belong to him and that the supplies to make meth were for someone in Laurens County, the report said.

Police arrested Eller and charged him with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and PWID meth within a half-mile of a school, the report said. Eller has since been released on a $6,000 bond.