By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — Third-grade teacher Kimberly Simmons Coates, who was arrested on Aug. 17 for suspected intoxication at the Perkins-Tryon Intermediate School, failed to appear in Payne County District Court on Aug. 22 since she was undergoing inpatient treatment, court records show.
Special District Judge Katherine Thomas took a bench warrant for Coates’ re-arrest under advisement until the Oct. 9 misdemeanor docket at which Coates was expected to appear on a public intoxication charge.
Coates, 53, of Stillwater, had been released from the Payne County Jail on a personal recognizance bond on the day after her arrest. She could be given a jail term of five to 30 days and a fine of $10 to $100 if convicted of public intoxication, court records show.
In an effort to stop the spread of incorrect information about the incident, Perkins Police Chief Robert Ernst issued a statement to the media on Friday:
“The Perkins Police Department released police officer body camera footage of the incident, as required by law, in response to a proper written open records request submitted to the police department. All releases of body camera footage have been required by the Oklahoma Open Records Act and other applicable law.
“I have personally responded to the written records requests the city has received for the body camera footage. I am confident that no member of the Perkins Police Department nor any other city employee, other than myself, has released the body camera footage, or any portion thereof, to any person or entity.
“I am also confident that no member of the Perkins Police Department has posted the body camera footage, or any portion thereof, to the internet. All the releases of body camera footage have followed the law and legal advice.
“No one in the Perkins Police Department wants to embarrass or humiliate anyone involved. The many positive events which occur in Perkins deserve as much attention as this sad event. It is time to come together and pray for everyone involved and our community,” the police chief emphasized in a news release.
Before Coates was arrested, School Resource Officer Shane Dean had been contacted by Perkins-Tryon School Superintendent Douglas Ogle at 3:20 pm on Aug. 17 to come to the Intermediate School regarding a teacher’s behavior that appeared to have changed in the afternoon from the morning, an affidavit alleged.
The officer alleged in his affidavit, “I noticed Kimberly had red watery eyes and a thick slurred speech. Kimberly had a hard time completing sentences. Mr. Ogle told her that when he talked to her this morning, she acted differently than how she is now. Kimberly said she took some medication last night (Aug. 16) for anxiety but nothing else.
“Kimberly then changed her statement that she took her medication this morning. Kimberly could not tell me what the prescription was.”
Asked if she had anything to drink, “Kimberly said she drank half of a box of wine last night and quit drinking at about 3 am this morning,” the affidavit alleged.
After she took a breath test with a portable device, the result “confirmed my suspicion that alcohol was present,” the school resource officer alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked Kimberly again how much she had to drink. Kimberly stated she drank some wine on her way to work this morning. Kimberly denied drinking any this afternoon.
“Mr. Ogle brought back a bag of Kimberly’s belongings, along with a blue plastic cup that had red liquid in it that had the odor of an alcoholic beverage that I believed to be wine. Kimberly stated she drank out of that cup yesterday (Aug. 16) and not today,” the school resource officer alleged in his affidavit.
During her arrest for public intoxication, “I could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Kimberly’s person,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
