Teacher of the Year
31-May-2008, 04:45 PM
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Teacher of the Year
Teacher Busted Buying Heroin on Her Lunch Break
Mary C. Steck -- Physics teacher at Perry High School faces drug charges
A physics teacher allegedly left Pittsburgh Perry High School in the middle of the school day to buy heroin, got caught in a police sting, then returned to school to finish out the day Wednesday.
Mary C. Steck, 51, of the North Side, a Perry teacher for about 12 years, was charged with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
Police who pulled over her sport utility vehicle said they found a syringe protruding from her purse and two "stamp bags" of suspected drugs inside.
The Pittsburgh Public Schools suspended Ms. Steck with pay and took a drug-sniffing dog through her classroom, but no drugs were found there, district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said.
Ms. Steck's salary is about $72,000, representing top-scale pay for a city teacher with a bachelor's degree.
A passenger in the SUV, Roger A. Bushell, 45, who shares a Baytree Street address with Ms. Steck, was charged with possession of suspected crack cocaine. Mr. Bushell is not a school district employee.
In an affidavit, city Detective Michael Molitaris gave this account:
Police had the 2300 block of Atmore Street on the North Side under surveillance Wednesday, after a resident complained that young men posing as candy sellers were peddling drugs instead.
Ms. Steck drove to Atmore about 1:10 p.m., and Mr. Bushell got out and approached a male who had been observed loitering on the street. Mr. Bushell counted out money, handed it to the other person and accepted "small white objects" in return.
The SUV drove away. Detective Molitaris radioed to other detectives, who stopped Ms. Steck's vehicle in the 800 block of Marshall Avenue.
One detective asked Ms. Steck to step out of the vehicle, noticed the syringe and asked whether she had other needles in the purse.
"No, just stamp bags," she replied, pointing at a paper towel folded inside the purse. The bags of suspected heroin were marked "Blade."
Mr. Bushell dropped a small plastic bowl as he got out of the SUV. It contained suspected crack cocaine.
Police did not take the pair into custody, and Ms. Steck returned to Perry, on the North Side, to finish the school day. Ms. Steck had told the detectives that she was a teacher, however, and police notified the school district.
School officials summoned Ms. Steck to the office with about five minutes left in the day, ordered her to leave and told her not to return yesterday, Ms. Pugh said.
Ms. Steck did not answer her cell phone yesterday. A woman at Ms. Steck's home, about a block from Perry, declined to open the door.
This was Ms. Steck's second run-in with the law in recent months. At about 2:45 a.m. Oct. 27, a state trooper helping to operate a sobriety checkpoint on the Parkway North discovered Ms. Steck's empty SUV on the berm, its engine warm. He subsequently cited Ms. Steck for not having auto insurance.
Ms. Steck did not have enough money in her account to cover a check she wrote for the fine and costs. The district court filed a bad-check count against her, then withdrew it, and Ms. Steck later paid $541, records showed.
Saturday May 31, 2008 - 11:19am (PDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments
Mary C. Steck -- Physics teacher at Perry High School faces drug charges
A physics teacher allegedly left Pittsburgh Perry High School in the middle of the school day to buy heroin, got caught in a police sting, then returned to school to finish out the day Wednesday.
Mary C. Steck, 51, of the North Side, a Perry teacher for about 12 years, was charged with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
Police who pulled over her sport utility vehicle said they found a syringe protruding from her purse and two "stamp bags" of suspected drugs inside.
The Pittsburgh Public Schools suspended Ms. Steck with pay and took a drug-sniffing dog through her classroom, but no drugs were found there, district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said.
Ms. Steck's salary is about $72,000, representing top-scale pay for a city teacher with a bachelor's degree.
A passenger in the SUV, Roger A. Bushell, 45, who shares a Baytree Street address with Ms. Steck, was charged with possession of suspected crack cocaine. Mr. Bushell is not a school district employee.
In an affidavit, city Detective Michael Molitaris gave this account:
Police had the 2300 block of Atmore Street on the North Side under surveillance Wednesday, after a resident complained that young men posing as candy sellers were peddling drugs instead.
Ms. Steck drove to Atmore about 1:10 p.m., and Mr. Bushell got out and approached a male who had been observed loitering on the street. Mr. Bushell counted out money, handed it to the other person and accepted "small white objects" in return.
The SUV drove away. Detective Molitaris radioed to other detectives, who stopped Ms. Steck's vehicle in the 800 block of Marshall Avenue.
One detective asked Ms. Steck to step out of the vehicle, noticed the syringe and asked whether she had other needles in the purse.
"No, just stamp bags," she replied, pointing at a paper towel folded inside the purse. The bags of suspected heroin were marked "Blade."
Mr. Bushell dropped a small plastic bowl as he got out of the SUV. It contained suspected crack cocaine.
Police did not take the pair into custody, and Ms. Steck returned to Perry, on the North Side, to finish the school day. Ms. Steck had told the detectives that she was a teacher, however, and police notified the school district.
School officials summoned Ms. Steck to the office with about five minutes left in the day, ordered her to leave and told her not to return yesterday, Ms. Pugh said.
Ms. Steck did not answer her cell phone yesterday. A woman at Ms. Steck's home, about a block from Perry, declined to open the door.
This was Ms. Steck's second run-in with the law in recent months. At about 2:45 a.m. Oct. 27, a state trooper helping to operate a sobriety checkpoint on the Parkway North discovered Ms. Steck's empty SUV on the berm, its engine warm. He subsequently cited Ms. Steck for not having auto insurance.
Ms. Steck did not have enough money in her account to cover a check she wrote for the fine and costs. The district court filed a bad-check count against her, then withdrew it, and Ms. Steck later paid $541, records showed.
Saturday May 31, 2008 - 11:19am (PDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments
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