By BOB MOREHEAD

The Post staff writer

A car that failed to stop Feb. 18 at a stop sign while getting off of Interstate 76 at Barber Road carried a portable methamphetamine lab, police say.

Gary A. Keene, 33, of Tallmadge, and Ronald V. Pigg, 26, of Akron, were arrested and face multiple felony drug charges.

According to police, an officer patrolling Barber Road around 2 a.m. saw the car run the stop sign and pulled it over. The driver allegedly had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech and "was not acting right," although he passed field sobriety tests, police say. The K-9 officer was called in and K-9 Brix reportedly "hit" on the trunk.

"(The officer who made the stop) saw a plastic case sticking out under the seat that the driver kinda kicked as he was getting out of the car," K-9 Officer Ryan Burnette said.

Burnette checked the trunk and the other officer checked the case. Inside the case, police say, was about 4 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale, a glass smoking pipe and some razor blades. In the trunk, Burnette allegedly found a portable meth lab.

"It had everything you can think of," Burnette said. "We called in the Summit County Drug Unit and they confirmed it was a meth lab."

A hazardous materials company was called to dispose of the chemicals, which are highly toxic and potentially explosive.

"Our buddy Brix is earning his kibble," Burnette said.

Charges facing the pair are illegal manufacture of drugs, a second-degree felony; aggravated trafficking, a fourth-degree felony; illegal possession or assembly of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs, a third-degree felony; and possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony.

"And a whole bunch of minor stuff," Police Chief Thad Hete said.