Breaking Bad: Arkansas? Two Professors Charged With Making Meth

Brandonrush [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Is this a case of life imitates art?

According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, on Friday two Arkansas chemistry professors were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. And the only thing that comes to mind is Walter White from Breaking Bad.

45-year-old Terry Bateman and 40-year-old Bradley Rowan are associate professors of chemistry at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. That’s about 70 miles southwest of Little Rock.

The two men were put on administrative leave on October 11, just 3 days after the school’s Reynolds Science Center had been closed due to “a report of an undetermined chemical odor.” Testing revealed that odor to be benzyl chloride, which is used in the creation of certain dyes and pharmaceutical products. It could also be used to produce methamphetamine.

It’s not clear if that incident led to the investigation by law enforcement, but their court appearances are pending.

If they truly were inspired by Breaking Bad, I’m not sure they understood the part where that show was fiction.