An Orange County narcotics team Monday night arrested a Vidor High School teacher with a reported 9.6 ounces of methamphetamine in the car. The arrested began as a traffic stop about 8 p.m. on Interstate 10 near North Main Street in Vidor.
34-year-old Lauren Leigh Courmier of Vinton, Louisiana, was arrested and taken to the Orange County Jail. She has been charged with the first degree felony of possession of a controlled substance. Tuesday morning, 128th State District Judge Courtney Arkeen set a bond of $300,000.
Vidor ISD Superintendent Dr. Jay Killgo issued a statement saying the teacher will not be working with students while the investigation is pending.
He said the teacher was off-duty and the arrest did not involve students, staff or the school district in any way.
“Our school district will remain steadfast in ensuring that the best employees are working with our students and any case of inappropriate behavior will be dealt with in a swift manner,” he said.
Orange County Sheriff’s Detective Joel Stinnett wrote in an affidavit of probable cause for the charge that he, Deputy Martin Gaskin, Lieutenant Rob Strause and Orange Police Department Sgt. Jason Laughlin saw a 2010 Dodge Charge on Interstate 10 eastbound.
The car was traveling at 75 mph and was following another vehicle too closely. In addition, the Charger veered out of the traffic lane. The law officers stopped the car for the traffic violations. Deputy Stinnett said he saw the woman who was driving reach for her purse and try to hide a plastic bag holding a substance that looked like methamphetamine.
The officers arrested Courmier because the bag was in plain sight.
Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Clint Hodgkinson said the Sulphur, Louisiana, Police Department worked on the investigation with the sheriff’s office and Orange police.
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