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Okla. substitute teacher faces charges for allegedly showing up to school drunk

Posted at 1:57 PM, Feb 22, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-22 13:57:55-05

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ADA, Okla. (KFOR) –Ada police say they arrested a substitute teacher for allegedly showing up in the classroom drunk.

Officers wear small video cameras during calls and captured their encounter with her on camera.

The video was taken just outside Washington Elementary School in Ada on school property.

Teachers did not want Michelle Childress getting behind the wheel of her car, so they distracted her in the parking lot until police arrived.

When police confronted the woman, they say they could smell a strong odor of alcohol.

“What’s going on?” the officer asked.

“He called me to sub today,” Childress said.

However, police say Childress could not stand up or talk straight let alone teach a class full of elementary children.

Officials at Washington Elementary school in Ada called police to take care of Childress.

At one time, Childress was an employee at the school.

“She made it I believe to the classroom but then they noticed that something wasn’t right,” Officer Jaron Ballagh said.

“I’m just really upset,” Childress told the officer.

“What did you come up here for like this?” he asked.

“Well, they asked me to sub today so I did, I subbed,” she said. “But for only a couple of hours.”

“What did you take,” the officer asked. “I mean, I can smell alcohol, but what else?”

“No. That’s it. I drank a little bit before I came,” Childress said.

“So you drank then you came up here to sub? That’s not too good of a decision,” the officer said.

“No, but I mean, it’s not a bad decision,” Childress said.

“It is a bad decision. You’re coming to a school intoxicated and trying to sub,” the officer said.

“No. I’m not intoxicated,” Childress said.

“You are intoxicated. You can’t even stand up,” the officer said.

“Her speech was really slurred, and she was unsteady on her feet,” Ballagh said. “She said she’d been sick and that’s why she was acting the way that she was.”

Officers say Childress refused a field sobriety test and never admitted to being drunk.
She was taken into custody.

Once at jail, Childress agreed to be tested and the results were three times the legal limit.

According to police, Childress has faced a DUI in the past.