A Mt. Healthy Elementary School i-CARE worker told investigators “I really messed up today” multiple times after she was arrested and accused of public intoxication and neglect of a dependent while working with students at the school.
Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies were sent to the school at 5:49 p.m. Wednesday after a parent reported her son told her an i-CARE worker, later identified as Tiffany S. Cooksey, 35, 2990 W. County Road 300S, was verbally aggressive with the 12-year-old, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Bartholomew Circuit Court.
The parent said she smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Cooksey’s breath, the affidavit stated.
i-CARE is BCSC’s optional childcare program open to all BCSC families. The program offers before- and after-school care.
When deputies arrived, they saw an adult female exiting the school. During initial contact, Deputy Grant Carlson said the woman identified herself as Tiffany Cooksey using her name, date of birth and Social Security number, the affidavit stated. Cooksey was stumbling around the sidewalk as she exited the school, the affidavit stated.
Carlson said he noticed a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from Cooksey’s breath, and her eyes were bloodshot red and watery. She became verbally aggressive after deputies confronted her on whether she had been drinking or not, the affidavit stated.
Cooksey told deputies she was not working at the school, however, when asked what she was doing at the school, Cooksey said, “I’m working here,” according to the affidavit.
After slamming her bag on the ground, an empty bottle of Dark Eyes vodka rolled out of the bag, in full view by a sheriff deputy, the affidavit stated. Carlson placed Cooksey in handcuffs but she refused to take a portable breath test, according to the affidavit.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
