Investigators found all the makings of a methamphetamine lab inside a backpack Friday afternoon. And thanks to an alert business owner, Marietta police quickly identified a person of interest.

Around 4:30 p.m., a witness called police after watching someone walking with a backpack stop and toss it into bushes after a police car drove by, according to Officer David Baldwin.

The same officer returned to the area, detained the subject and looked into the backpack before calling other officers to the scene.

“He looks into the backpack and sees all of the ingredients needed to make methamphetamine,” Baldwin said late Friday.

Police temporarily closed a section of Northwest Parkway and Franklin Road and evacuated nearby businesses while hazmat investigators examined the backpack’s contents.

“They were able to determine that none of the chemicals had been mixed,” Baldwin said. “He basically had all of the pieces of the puzzle.”

The suspect, whose name was not released, was in custody Friday night.

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