Charter School Employee Accused Of Selling Drugs In Parking Lot

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CHURCHILL (KDKA) -- A Churchill charter school employee is accused of selling drugs in the school's parking lot.

Twenty-nine-year old Devon Alexander, of Coraopolis, worked as a behavioral specialist at the Pace Special Education School in Churchill.

Alexander has been terminated by the school after he was arrested on drug charges Monday afternoon. He said nothing at the Churchill Police Station as he was being taken downtown to face multiple drug charges.

Police said Alexander was initially stopped because he was seen texting while driving Monday afternoon on Greensburg Pike, near the school.

Inside his SUV, Police discovered thousands of dollars of drugs stuffed in a blue duffel bag. The drugs included suspected cocaine, crack cocaine, raw and packaged heroin, a plastic bag of Xanax, marijuana and ecstasy.

Alexander admitted to selling some drugs a short time earlier.

"[Alexander] did actually meet with a female employee of the school immediately at the end of the school day. She's unidentified at this time. We will follow up on that [on Tuesday]. She did meet with him in his vehicle in the parking lot, where a hand-to-hand transaction did occur. We believe that substance was probably marijuana," Churchill Police Chief Ron Akerley told KDKA News.

Chief Akerley said he didn't know the full extent of Alexander's alleged drug dealing.

"I don't know if this was a one time thing or if it was it a regular routine for him," he said. "I have no information to corroborate that there was ever any narcotics inside the school."

Karen Shepherd, the CEO of Pace School, released the following statement:

"Earlier today I was alerted to an incident involving one of our staff members. Since hearing about this situation, the employee has been terminated. We are fully cooperating with the Churchill Police Department on this matter. We will also be conducting our own internal investigation. The safety and security of our students are our utmost concern."

A Pace spokesman says the school is cooperating with police and is now conducting its own investigation.