Students at a Pittsburgh-area high school learned a hard lesson about the harsh realities of drug addiction firsthand after they watched a substitute teacher who was high on heroin pass out in class.
Bellevue Police Sgt. Mike Hudson discovered the sub who was identified as Christopher Chiappetta, 26, lying limp in front of a classroom with 11 students Wednesday, reports the Associated Press. He had been subbing for an art class.
Sgt. Hudson, a school resource officer for the Northgate School District, says he was walking the hallways when he noticed something was wrong.
"Unfortunately, it was a very realistic show and tell where you can preach the message to students, but they got to see live, firsthand the effects of a drug addiction problem," Sgt. Hudson told CBS affliate KDKA-TV.
Hudson noticed that the sub, who is not an employee of Northgate, took a break close to noon and left the building. When Chiappetta got back to the classroom, he reportedly passed out in front of students.
After Sgt. Hudson got school administrators to wake Chiappetta up, the substitute initially denied being under the influence.
It wasn't until they found four baggies of heroin in Chiapetta's pocket and marijuana in his car that he confessed to using heroin around 6 a.m. that morning.
"When a person makes a decision to use a narcotic, and he's actually being a substitute teacher, that's pretty severe drug usage, and he needs a lot of help," Sgt. Hudson said.
Chiapetta faces several drug charges and endangering the welfare of children.
Sgt. Hudson says he plans to contact the students and their parents to see if they feel they were victimized by Chiappetta's actions. Then he could be facing more charges.
He's in the Allegheny County Jail on $10,000 straight bond.
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