Tulsa school teacher arrested on drug complaint

Tulsa Police arrested a Tulsa schoolteacher Tuesday morning for pulling a teenage prank that turned serious. <br><br>As News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright explains, what started as a misdemeanor

Tuesday, July 23rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police arrested a Tulsa schoolteacher Tuesday morning for pulling a teenage prank that turned serious.

As News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright explains, what started as a misdemeanor beer theft, turned into a felony drug arrest. The clerk working the early morning shift at a Tulsa Git N Go called police when a man came in to steal a 20-pack of beer.

Tulsa Police Sgt Wayne Allen, "When they got there, the suspect was running across the parking lot carrying two containers of beer." Not only that but, the clerk said two hours earlier, the same suspect had come in and stolen another pack of beer. That suspect was 30-year-old Curtis Luttrell.

Police reports say when officers searched Luttrell; he had four Xanax tablets with him, which is considered illegal narcotics without a prescription. Luttrell has been teaching at Tulsa's Lee Elementary School since 1998. The school system says since it's summer and school is out, Luttrell is not currently under contract.

Sgt Wayne Allen: "What we refer to as a beer run may not be the crime of the year, but, they're usually done by teenagers. This is a 30 year old man who's a school teacher and that is disturbing." Police say the store's video camera caught Luttrell on tape both times he took the beer.

Luttrell has no previous record in Tulsa. Of course, Luttrell has not been found guilty of anything at this point. His initial arraignment on one misdemeanor and one felony count will be Wednesday.