You can bet that this Pittsburgh-area substitute teacher won’t be getting hired again, after passing out in class following heroin use.
The teacher, identified as 26-year-old Christopher Chiappetta, used the drug around 6 a.m. on Wednesday, as the local CBS News affiliate reported. He then passed out in front of a classroom of 11 Northgate High School students around noon.
Bellevue Police Sgt. Mike Hudson, a school resource officer, was walking the school’s halls when the incident happened.
“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,” Hudson told the station.
Hudson helped rouse the young substitute teacher with the help of school administrators. Chiappetta at first denied being under the influence of drugs, but four baggies of heroin were found on his person. Marijuana was also found in his car. He then admitted to using the heroin and was arrested.
The teacher now faces charges for child endangerment, as well as obvious drug charges, the Associated Press reported. He is being held in a local jail after failing to post the $10,000 bail.
The sergeant is also contacting students in the class and their parents to see if they wanted to press additional charges.
“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,” Hudson told the CBS affiliate.
