5 AT SCHOOL ARRESTED BY A DEPUTY POSING AS STUDENT

Principal Asks For Sting To Gauge Drug Traffic; Gun Discovered In Car

MONROE -- A sheriff's deputy posing as a high school student busted five
Forest Hills High School students Wednesday on drug charges and charged one
with having a gun at school, Union County Sheriff Frank McGuirt said.

At the request of Forest Hills Principal Archie Price, a 21-year-old female
deputy posed as a student, taking classes, attending school activities and
setting up bogus drug deals.

Price said he wanted to see if the school had a drug problem -- and stop it
if it did. He did the same thing last year as principal at Piedmont High
School.

"I'm not happy there were drugs here, and I'm not happy that some students
made the wrong choices," Price said. "But I'm happy that those students
have been dealt with."

Price said he was shocked to find out a student had a gun in a car. The
student told officials about the gun as they went outside to search the
car, he said.

A similar investigation was under way at Weddington High School until last
week, when the undercover operative was killed in a car accident, McGuirt said.

According to sheriff's records, these students were charged with possession
with intent to sell, as well as sale and delivery: Matthew Cole Lowery, 17,
of Monroe; Michael Brandon Sims, 18, of Wingate; Damien Maurice Cabble, 18,
of Marshville; and Robert Paul Winfrey III, 17, of Monroe. Mitchell O'Brian
McKenzie, 17, of Marshville was charged with misdemeanor possession of
marijuana and possession of a weapon on school property.