Thursday, August 24, 2023

3rd-grade teacher arrested on first day of school after police bodycam video shows her testing at three times legal alcohol limit on breathalyzer

NEWS


A third-grade teacher in Oklahoma was arrested on the first day of school after a 
police bodycam video showed her testing at three times the legal alcohol 
limit on a breathalyzer.

Doug Ogle, superintendent of Perkins-Tryon Schools, told KWTV-TV that 
another teacher notified him that 53-year-old Kimberly Coates was acting 
strange last Thursday.

With that, Ogle and school resource officer Shane Dean confronted Coates 
over possible intoxication, Fox News reported, citing a City of 
Perkins statement.

Ogle told Coates something "seemed off" with her and that she didn’t 
"seem like the same person" he talked to earlier that morning, 
the cable network said.

Coates began to say she'd taken medicine for anxiety the night before but 
couldn't name the medication, Fox News said.

She then agreed to take a breathalyzer test, which showed a blood-alcohol 
concentration of .24 — three times the legal limit of .08, officials 
told the cable network.

"That’s not just one drink and you’re there," Perkins Police Sgt. Spencer 
Gedon noted to KWTV. "That’s several drinks."

Coates later said she was drinking late the night before and on her way to 
work in the morning, Fox News said, citing the bodycam video.

Another video segment of the confrontation shows Ogle entering the 
meeting room with Coates' bag and blue plastic cup, both of which he 
had just grabbed from Coates' classroom, the cable network noted.

"No more games, right?" Ogle can be heard asking the teacher while forcefully placing the cup on the meeting room table. "What is in that?"

"My juice," Coates replied, according to the bodycam video.

The school resource officer smelled the cup and had a different idea 
of what was in it: "Want to try again? That there is wine."

Coates said she drank from the cup the previous day and that while 
she's been in counseling, it hasn't helped her drinking, Fox News said.

After she refused to call someone to pick her up at the school, the 
officer placed her under arrest and escorted her from the building, 
the cable network added.

Coates was taken to the Payne County Jail and was expected to be 
charged with public intoxication, Fox News said.

The school district released a statement to parents following the incident 
stating that the district can't share additional information since it's
 "a personnel issue."

KWTV said Matt Langston, chief adviser from the state Department of 
Education, noted in a statement that the incident is "unacceptable for 
any teacher in the State of Oklahoma," that the department "immediately
 revoked Coates’ teaching certificate," and officials "will be exploring 
other disciplinary actions to ensure no child is exposed to this type 

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