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PARK CITY — A longtime resident of a house across from Park City High School was arrested after Summit County sheriff's deputies say he was producing crack cocaine.
Detectives, while serving a search warrant on March 8, found Ryan O'Niell Bertagnole in his driveway, detained and searched him. Police say the 60-year-old was found with drugs "within 100 feet of a high school and within 100 feet of a house of worship," according to the police booking affidavit.
When they searched his house, they found materials including propane torches, baking soda, cooking pans, packaging materials and cocaine — "commonly used to synthesize cocaine powder into crack cocaine," the affidavit states.
Near the supplies, police say they found a gun locker with an AR-15 style rifle, and a large fist-sized shard of methamphetamine, "substantially more than just a typical user would be holding."
Bertagnole has previous felony charges for possession of controlled substances and is restricted from owning firearms, according to court documents.
Police had previously raided the same home in 2013. Bertagnole's 13-year-old daughter was at the house, and told them she was "surprised that this didn't happen sooner," and that Bertagnole "is a drug dealer," according to previous charging documents. He pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana with intent to distribute in April 2015.
Bertagnole was booked into the Summit County Jail Thursday for investigation of operation of a clandestine lab, distribution of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone, being a restricted person with a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In 2023, high school crack cocaine use was at near historic lows of 0.5% or less according to the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Survey, The study also says that the "use of methamphetamine has declined to near-zero prevalence over the past two decades, with lifetime use at or below 0.6% in 2023."
