A Bremerton man who was wanted by police on an assault warrant told them the methamphetamine he had in his room was fake. Bremerton Police were skeptical of the claim, however.

Jeremy Ryan Mantyla, 27, of Bremerton, was charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) on Feb. 24 after Bremerton Police went to his residence on Solie Avenue in East Bremerton to arrest him on an assault warrant.

According to a BPD report, officers outside the home could see two men through the window who were smoking some type of drug pipe.

An officer knocked on the door and a woman answered. Another officer saw the men in the window scramble to hide the pipe along with any evidence of what they were doing.

Mantyla was handcuffed for his assault warrant and police also arrested his associates, Frederick Koehler and Christopher Maddox. Both of those men also had active warrants for their arrest.

According to the report, one officer “advised there appeared to be a large amount of methamphetamine in plain view inside the bedroom.”

When questioned about it, Mantyla said he didn’t know what officers were referring to.

An officer asked Mantyla about the large quantity of meth in plain view.

“It’s fake,” Mantyla told police.

“I asked Jeremy what he was doing with ‘fake’ meth and he said he gives it to people for free,” an officer wrote in the report.

The woman gave her consent to allow officers to search Mantyla’s room. Officers tested the meth and determined it was real.