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.
As deputies were preparing to transport Cooksey to Columbus Regional Hospital, she repeatedly asked, “Are my girls OK?”
She told deputies there were zero children in the school, according to the affidavit. Carlson asked if she had children and Cooksey replied “aggressively that it was none of his business and she had zero children.”
Sheriff’s Captain Dave Steinkoenig noticed a back door open on a nearby white Buick in the school parking lot that had Cooksey’s two step-daughters, ages 7 and 10, inside. Both children were wearing winter coats, and it was approximately 30 degrees Fahrenheit outside at the time, the affidavit states.
It is not clear how long the children had been left inside the vehicle unattended, deputies said.
The vehicle did belong to Cooksey and was not running when deputies noticed the children inside it. The children were picked up by their father and Child Protective Services was made aware of the incident, deputies said.
After being taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, Cooksey claimed she suffers from borderline personality disorder and said she had not been managing the disorder well lately, the affidavit stated.
Cooksey was being held at the Bartholomew County Jail on the two preliminary charges of public intoxication and neglect of a dependent and was being held in lieu of $11,000 bond, jail officials said.
Criminal history
A search on MyCase, Indiana’s platform for online services provided by the Office of Judicial Administration, linked Cooksey to several criminal charges dating back to 2002.
According to court records on MyCase, Cooksey was most recently convicted in 2018 with a Level 6 felony for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and endangering a person under 18 years old. She was sentenced by Hamilton Superior Court 4 Judge J. Richard Campbell to 535 days on probation active Oct. 16, 2018, and a 365-day driver’s license suspension, active Oct. 16, 2018.
Cooksey was also convicted of a criminal misdemeanor in 2010 for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, according to the website.
While serving jail time for another offense, Cooksey was charged in 2004 with a criminal misdemeanor for assisting a criminal after admitting to having sex in the Hamilton County Jail, according to the former Noblesville Ledger. Cooksey was one of three female inmates and four male inmates who admitted to having sex after the male inmates escaped from their cellblock and entered the female cellblock through an opening, according to the newspaper.
MyCase records show Cooksey was previously charged in 2003 with a Class B felony for burglary and theft, and a criminal misdemeanor in 2002 for conversion.
Background checks
BCSC communications coordinator Josh Burnett said all BCSC employees are subject to a background check upon hiring, as well as an interview process that is carefully considered in any decision-making.
According to its website, BCSC uses an online job application system. All applicants must complete and apply for a job using a provided link. Applicants with complete files, including a state and national criminal history report, are screened by an administrator according to established criteria. The website states an interview team will select the successful candidate for hire.
“A part of that application is an (Expanded Criminal History Background Check, required under Indiana law) which is very in-depth and checks both personal and DCS (Department of Child Services) records,” Burnett said. “If the background check comes back with an alert, the potential employee has to be signed off by a BCSC official by their determination if the applicant is able to fill the role that is being applied for.”
Cooksey was first hired by BCSC in March 2019 as a cafeteria worker at Mt. Healthy. Burnett confirmed Cooksey’s application did come back with an alert, but a determination was made that she was eligible to work in the cafeteria.
Burnett said Cooksey applied for a position as an i-CARE assistant site coordinator at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year. Burnett said she went through the interview process for the i-CARE position and “showed that she was capable of fulfilling the role that she applied for.”
