BANNING: Man suspected of making moonshine

Police in the Inland area have run across their share of drug labs and marijuana fields, but it’s rare to find a moonshine operation. After all, this ain’t the Appalachians.

But that’s just what Banning police discovered Saturday, Nov. 24.

In the process of serving a bench warrant, officers found a still cooking up some white lightning in the suspect’s garage.

Banning police Chief Leonard Purvis said the find was unusual.

“It’s the first time in my career that we’ve come across (a still), and I’ve been doing this almost 25 years,” he said. “It happens in other parts of the country, but definitely not in Southern California.”

John Carr, spokesman for the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said finding a still in California is uncommon, but not unheard of.

“They don’t happen too often, but they come up from time to time,” he said. “To say they never happen would not be correct.”

John Hall, spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney, said neither he nor his co-workers can recall any specific cases involving stills in recent years.

Moonshining, a term for distilling illegal alcohol, is said to date back to the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s, when President George Washington imposed a federal tax on whiskey, which farmers strongly resented.

The practice has regained popularity because of a television show called “Moonshiners,” which debuted last year on the Discovery Channel.

Police officers went to the King Street home of James Jonathan Collins shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday to serve a bench warrant, according to a news release from the department.

The $250,000 warrant was for being under the influence and numerous failure to appear notices, Purvis said.

Officers found Collins, 47, in his attached garage and while arresting him, smelled a strong odor coming from an enclosed portion of the garage, the release stated.

Purvis said officers first thought they had stumbled upon a methamphetamine lab. Further investigation led to the discovery of an active moonshine still.

The Riverside County Fire Department was called, and firefighters rendered the still safe before it was dismantled, police said.

“One of my main concerns was the possible threat not only to occupants of that house, but to neighbors,” Purvis said. “I understand moonshine is very flammable.”

Police said they arrested Collins on suspicion of illegal distillation of an alcoholic beverage. He was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Center on suspicion of two misdemeanor counts of selling liquor without a license, according to jail records. He was being held in lieu of $2,500 bond.

Purvis said officers called the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for direction on what charges Collins should face. Carr said illegally operating a still remains a felony under California law.

The police chief said being unfamiliar with stills, he does not know what materials or methods Collins was using.

When asked if he was curious to taste the hooch, Purvis said “No way!”