Teen arrested at school, charged with drug trafficking

A 14-year-old eighth-grader was taken from Meadowdale PreK-8 School to the Juvenile Justice Center after he was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of delinquency by reason of trafficking marijuana.

According to a Dayton Police report, an officer was called to the school at 3871 Yellowstone Ave. about 10 a.m. School staff members told police the student allegedly had four baggies of marijuana on him and that there allegedly was camera footage of the student putting marijuana in his shoe. He was also accused of smoking marijuana in a restroom, according to the report.

In addition to the felony, the teen also was arrested for delinquency by reason of possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. He was arrested for trafficking due to his “prior history” and because it was bagged to sell in four individual baggies all contained within a larger sandwich-sized bag, according to the report.

Dayton Public Schools spokeswoman Jill Moberley said there was little she could reveal publicly about the student’s history.

“He’s a minor,” she said. “To share his discipline record with anyone would be prohibited.”

The student was suspended for 10 days and he faces an expulsion hearing, . Moberley said the district has a zero-tolerance policy for activity of this nature.

The total amount of the confiscated marijuana was 1.79 grams. Dayton Police Sgt. John Sullivan, supervisor of the drug unit, estimated its street value ranging from $10 to $20. Sullivan called it unusual to see a student this age be arrested for selling drugs.

Children in pre-kindergarten through second grade are on Meadowdale’s first floor and third- through fifth-grade students are on the second floor. Sixth- through eighth-grade students are in a separate wing, Moberley said.

“They have a separate entrance and a separate stairwell. All of the other kids enter through the front door,” Moberley said, noting the older students don’t eat lunch or have recess with the younger students either.

The teen rode the bus to and from school, she said.

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