Crime & Safety

Treesdale Home That Was Investigated for Explosives, Drugs Is Now Safe for Habitation, Police Say

The Condor Lane home needed to be cleared of hazardous materials after an investigation Saturday.

by a multitude of law enforcement officers for potential explosives and drugs is now safe for habitation, said Chief T. Robert Amann.

"The house is safe; the neighborhood is safe," Amann said Friday afternoon while awaiting the arrival of a truck that would transport chemicals from the home in the 2000 block of Condor Lane in Pine Township.

Signs had been posted on the front door of the home, which is owned by model Theresa Gaugler, that prohibited anyone from entering until a hazmat team cleaned it. Those signs were removed today.

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"A clandestine laboratory for the manufacture of illegal drugs and/or hazardous chemicals was seized at this location on April 28, 2012, by the Pennsylvania State Police," a warning sign on the front door stated. 

"Known hazardous chemicals have been disposed of pursuant to law. However, there still may be hazardous substances or waste products on this property either in buildings or in the ground itself," the state police sign said.

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The FBIPennsylvania State Police and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in Saturday to investigate at the home, Amann said. Police also summoned the Allegheny County Bomb Squad and a county Hazmat team.

 and McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority were on standby on Condor Lane from about 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

The final cleanup was done today, the chemicals were packaged and ready to be transported away, Amann said.

"The experts had to neutralize (the chemicals) before they were moved," he added.

Amann said a member of the family was at the home while police were there today, but that it was not owner Theresa Gaugler, the divorced mother of four daughters and a son.

For now, it appears no charges will be filed regarding the chemicals, Amann said.

"The chemicals are legal. They don't become illegal until mixed," Amann said, and they had not been mixed.

State police also removed items from the house Saturday that may have been used to manufacture hallucinogenic mushrooms, Amann said. No charges have been filed, pending lab results from the Pennsylvania State Police, Amann said.

A large amount of marijuana also was found in the house, Amann said Saturday.

Police were initially called to the house about 1 a.m. Saturday for an underage drinking party, the police chief said.

Citations will be issued for underage drinking, said Amann.

Two people—ages 20 and 14—were at the home when police arrived Saturday, said Amann.

The 20-year-old is a friend of the Gaugler children who was allowed to live there for free, Theresa Gaugler said in an email. The police chief confirmed that.

The 14-year-old daughter was not in the game room where the party was being held, Amann said.

"No charges on any of the Gauglers is pending," Amann said, again reiterating that police are waiting for lab results.

Theresa Gaugler came to the home Saturday soon after police arrived, the chief said.

She was listed on Facebook and Twitter as a Wilhelmina model who described herself as the "White Diamond Vodka" spokesmodel. 

However, an email received from Mark Lucero, president of Beverage Brands Inc., stated that she is not the spokesmodel for the vodka.

"Aside from a one-time appearance as a model in a television advertisement produced last year for our company, she has no official affiliation with, and in no way represents, our brand of products," Lucero's email said.

In an email and phone conversation, Gaugler maintained that she was called a spokesmodel in promotional material for a December event at the Wine Loft in Southside.

Gaughler said she put that on her Facebook and Twitter accounts and promoted the event through them.

After Gaugler's name was published as the owner of the home in Saturday's investigation, she said she deactivated her Facebook and Twitter accounts temporarily "because the media was stealing photos to put on the news reports."

She said she worked for the vodka company from October through Christmas and the ads continued to run after that.


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