A teacher admitted to using drugs in a high school classroom after a video taken by her students showed her doing so.
Samantha Cox, 24 was arrested earlier this week and charged with possession of cocaine and possession of paraphernalia on Monday in Lake County, Indiana.
According to the Chicago Tribune, police were called to Lake Central High School on Wednesday after students showed the school’s principal a video of Cox appearing to snort cocaine in an empty classroom.
Students recorded Cox on social media app Snapchat. The video was later uploaded to YouTube, where it’s been viewed more than 600,000 times.
View the student's video here. Contains images of drug use.
After arriving at the school, drug sniffing dogs alerted police to Cox’s desk drawer, which contained "a clear tightly twisted bag with multiple small rolled up pieces of tin foil," addition rolls of foil pieces and a device that could be used to snort cocaine or other drugs, according to the Tribune.
Police also found a glass pipe in the glove box of Cox’s car.
Cox later admitted to police she bought $160 worth of cocaine before school that morning. She also reportedly told police she planned to snort the drugs before school, so she locked her classroom door while on break and snorted the cocaine then.
According to WGN, Cox was described by students as a popular English teacher in her second year at Lake Central High School.
“Earlier today, lake central administration was made aware of a situation regarding a teacher at Lake Central High School. Swift and forceful action was taken," said Lake Central Superintendent Larry Veracco in the robocall to parents, according to WGN.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
