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Teacher says drug paraphernalia in his truck was 'someone else's stuff'
By JENNIFER GOLDBLATT, Times Staff Writer
A Chasco Middle School teacher accused of possessing drug paraphernalia maintained his innocence and said the pipes sheriff's deputies found in his truck were not his. "That was someone else's stuff, and it was in my truck," said Jeremy Fetzner, 28, who teaches physical education at the Port Richey school. Fetzner was arrested the morning of Sept. 26 after Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies found him passed out behind the wheel of his truck in a McDonald's parking lot on W Hillsborough Avenue. According to a sheriff's spokesman, deputies found three pipes in his truck. One pipe had residue that tested positive for cocaine. Fetzner was arrested. Fetzner has been out on personal unpaid leave from the school district since Sept. 17. Fetzner, who lives in Dunedin, called the St. Petersburg Times Friday after the newspaper reported his arrest. He said he was passed out because of low blood sugar levels. Fetzner said he is upset about going through a divorce and has not been eating. He added that a Florida Highway Patrol trooper approached him in the truck earlier in the morning. That trooper had him walk a straight line to test his sobriety. Fetzner said he passed the test. The patrol has no record of this stop, but a trooper could have stopped and just not made a report, said Lt. Sterling King, a patrol spokesman. Fetzner said that after the trooper left, people who owe him money planted the pipes in his car. "People came back and set me up," Fetzner said. "It's not fair. Life ain't easy." Fetzner received his bachelor of science degree from the University of South Florida in May 1998. Fetzner started working for the Harry Schwettman Education Center in 1999, assisting students with emotional and behavioral problems. He resigned in June 2000. In August 2001,Fetzner went to Chasco Middle School to teach physical education. Fetzner's personnel file is filled with positive performance evaluations. "Mr. Fetzner is a bright, creative young man who understands his students' needs and plans excellent lessons for them," wrote Herman Weinberg, a University of South Florida professor who taught Fetzner and had him as a student intern. According to records with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Fetzner was charged with driving under the influence in 1994 in Pinellas County. The disposition of the case is unclear. -- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.
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From today's Pasco Times |
