Police: Arkansas teacher arrested at middle school on public intoxication charge

Melisa M. Dillard, 54, of Bryant
Melisa M. Dillard, 54, of Bryant

An Arkansas middle school teacher was arrested late last month on a public intoxication charge after her students told school officials she was “acting strange," authorities said.

Officer Brenda Cole was called April 28 to Bethel Middle School at 5415 Northlake Road in Alexander after Principal Chris Gabe told authorities he suspected a teacher was under the influence of either drugs or alcohol, according to a Bryant Police Department report.

Students in Melisa M. Dillard’s class had told other teachers that someone needed to check on her because she was “acting strange” and had fallen out of her chair, police said.

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When Cole arrived at the school around 3:30 p.m., the officer found Dillard sitting behind her desk “rocking back and forth and mumbling something,” the report said.

The 54-year-old Dillard appeared disheveled, smelled of intoxicants and her speech was slow and slurred, Cole wrote.

According to the report, Dillard told Cole she had taken prescribed pain pills and drank some of a bottle of wine she purchased during a spare period.

When given a breath test, Dillard blew a 0.288 percent, police said in the report.

Dillard was escorted from the middle school and taken to the Saline County jail on a charge of public intoxication. She was released the following day around 1:30 p.m., according to jail records.

The middle school's online directory lists Dillard as a business teacher.

When asked about Dillard's current employment status, a Bryant School District official wrote in an email that it was a "personnel matter" and no additional information would be released.

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