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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Cocaine on Lunch Menu

By Jeremy Hunt
Journal Staff Writer
    When a Sandia High School secretary invited two students home during lunch, it was cocaine— not food— that was laid out on her coffee table, according to police.
    Ashley Herrod, 21, was arrested Tuesday after a deputy found her in her apartment with two Sandia students and a couple of lines of cocaine.
    She was charged with two counts of child abuse, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and drug possession, according to a criminal complaint.
    A sheriff's deputy went to Herrod's apartment near Wyoming and Comanche NE, less than half a mile from the high school, to serve an eviction notice.
    Once inside, the deputy saw Herrod, two Sandia students ages 15 and 16, and lines of cocaine in plain view on a table, sheriff's spokeswoman Kinnard Thompson said.
    The officer also smelled marijuana and saw a glass pipe in the apartment, according to the complaint. There were four vials of cocaine in addition to the lines on the table.
    Herrod told the deputy she didn't know what the white substance was.
    The students told the deputy Herrod invited them to her apartment to get high, according to the complaint.
    Herrod, an APS employee since December, has been put on paid administrative leave until an investigation is complete, spokeswoman Monica Armenta said.
    The students were released to their parents without being charged.
    They may face truancy charges or other discipline from the school, Armenta said.
    Herrod will remain on paid leave until an APS disciplinary panel reviews the case, Armenta said.
    "We'll let the process play out," she said. "The future does not look good for her here."
    Herrod was in the Metropolitan Detention Center late Tuesday on a $20,000 cash or surety bond.