A third-grade teacher has been arrested for being “drunk on the job” after staff pulled her out of class and asked her to explain why she had a cup allegedly filled with wine.
Kimberly Coates, 53, was teaching her class at Perkins-Tyron Intermediate School in Oklahoma when she was pulled from her class on the first day of the school year for a meeting with the school principal and a police officer.
After lengthy questioning during which she took a breathalyzer test and continuously denied that she had consumed alcohol at school, she finally admitted to drinking half a case of wine until 3 a.m. earlier that morning.
However, after the Superintendent, Doug Ogle, told her that you don’t appear to be the same person I spoke to this morning, the officer and school board suggested she had been drinking since she arrived at school and since class started at 8:25.
Coates was arrested on Thursday, August 17, charged with one count of public intoxication.
Kimberly Coates, 53, was arrested by Perkins police, charged with one count of public intoxication
Perkins Police released bodycam footage of the encounter with Coates on Tuesday, showing the allegedly drunk teacher meeting with school administrators and law enforcement.
Seargant Gedon told Oklahoma City’s KFOR, “The school board has contacted our school employee.
“Every time he got there, he saw signs that she might have a disability.”
In the bodycam footage, Ogle accused Coates of “acting weird” and “off.” She was asked if she wanted to take a breath test.
Coates agreed to the breath test and tried to excuse her behavior by claiming she had taken anxiety medication. She said she was unable to present the vial of medicine because she had put the anxiety pill in her pocket and taken it earlier in the day.
Then she blows into the machine and gives a reading of 0.24. Three times the legal driving limit of 0.08 in the US
Next, Coates is asked if she left campus today and if there would be traces of alcohol consumed in her classroom. She says she didn’t leave school today, but doesn’t answer that last question.
The officer asks Coates if she drinks often, to which she replies, “Unfortunately I do” and that she is “talking to a councilor about it.”
Perkins police on Tuesday release bodycam footage of the encounter with Coates (center) showing the allegedly drunk teacher meeting with school administrators and law enforcement
Kimberly Coates (center) was teaching her class at Perkins-Tyron Intermediate School in Oklahoma when she was pulled from her class on the first day of school to meet with the school principal and a police officer
While Coates continues to insist that the last time she drank was at 3 AM, Ogle questions whether, in the officer’s expert opinion, she is “under the influence.”
Sergeant Gedon replies, “In my honest opinion, I think she’s probably a functioning alcoholic.” He then checks her eyes by asking her to focus on a pen as he moves it back and forth. The cop concludes, “Yes, she’s drunk.”
At this point, Ogle tells Coates that she needs someone to pick her up and take her home. She refuses to let him call her husband.
A police report obtained by the Stillwater News Press stated that a school officer said, “I noticed Kimberly had red, watery eyes and a thick, slurred speech. Kimberly had trouble finishing sentences.’
“I know I’ve had a hard time — am I going to get fired,” Coates asks.
The Chief Inspector bluntly replies, “Honestly, yes – otherwise you can resign.” You are under the influence at school with children.’
Coates still doesn’t admit to drinking since she was in school, but wonders if she could still be high in alcohol after last night’s drinking.
“Unless you drank a ton this morning at eight, I don’t know how you can still be that high,” Sergeant says. Don responds.
Kimberly Coates inspects a cup from which she is accused of drinking wine. She said there was juice in the cup
Coates was arrested and transported to the Payne County jail on the expected court charge of public intoxication
A spokesperson for the City of Perkins said: ‘On Thursday, August 17, 2023, at approximately 3:20 p.m., School Resource Officer Shane Dean was contacted by Perkins-Tryon School officials regarding a teacher who may have been intoxicated at the Intermediate School.
The deputy dean contacted Kimberly S. Coates, 53, a third-grade teacher, and confirmed that Ms. Coates was indeed under the influence of alcohol.
‘Mrs. Coates’ breath sample in a portable breath tester showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.24, which is three times the legal limit. Mrs.
Coates was arrested and transported to the Payne County Jail on the expected court charge of public intoxication.