Drug suspect sought by WPD

A man suspected of growing a dozen marijuana plants and enough pot leaves to fill a garbage bag is on the lam after a raid at his home, authorities said Thursday.

Waynesboro police and members of the WASSP Drug Task Force busted down Christopher Uhler’s door at 1208 Tenth Street just before 7 p.m. Wednesday and found an elaborate growing system housed in part inside a second-floor room specially designed for marijuana cultivation, authorities said.

Uhler, 41, is wanted for possession with intent to manufacture marijuana and possession of ammunition by a felon.

A long criminal history has followed Uhler throughout Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County, where court documents show he may have been growing marijuana for more than a decade.

The raid of his home happened following an informant’s tip in late August, according to a search warrant.

That informant eventually gave police photos of plants and information that Uhler kept fertilizer, special lighting and a book titled “Hydroponics 4 Less” in his home, the warrant states. Uhler had been growing marijuana in the home about a year, had grown the drug in Augusta County for more than a decade and kept a pit bull for “protection of the marijuana grow,” according to the warrant.

Detectives also examined Uhler’s electricity bills for evidence of abnormal lighting demands.

Such scrutiny has fallen upon Uhler in the past.

Since 1995, he has been convicted of drug charges, assaults on family members, violating protective orders, theft and killing a cat.
According to court records:

n In 1996, Uhler broke into a woman’s basement, stole items and cut her phone cables.

n In 1998, he threatened the same woman and her 7-year-old daughter, leading the woman to write that she was “in fear for my life and anyones (sic) around me.”

n In 1999, he shot dead a neighbor’s cat with a gun he was barred from owning.

Neighbors of Uhler’s on Tenth Street said the man spoke of a criminal past but never caused problems.

He built the second-floor addition to his home last year and frequently delivered vegetables to neighbors from gardens in his yard, they said.