POLICE ARREST MIAMI COACH

Authorities Found A Loaded Gun, Drugs And Drug Paraphernalia.

MIAMI, Okla. -- A teacher who is the wrestling coach for Miami High School
was arrested at the school early Friday on multiple drug complaints, police
said.

Rusty Dean Roark, 30, of Grove was arrested on complaints of possession of
a controlled substance on school grounds, possession of marijuana,
possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a weapon while in
commission of a felony, Miami Police Chief Gary Anderson said.

Roark was a first-year instructor at the school, where he was the head
wrestling coach, an assistant football coach and a physical education teacher.

Anderson said an officer was patrolling the school parking lot about 2 a.m.
when he saw a car with a Kansas license plate in the lot and spotted a man
who went inside the school. The officer shined a flashlight inside the car
and saw a long gun and what appeared to be drug paraphernalia, reports show.

``They patrol there all the time, so to see this at 2 a.m. was very out of
the ordinary,'' Anderson said.

The officer confronted Roark -- who was with a student and said they were
cleaning up after a wrestling match held hours earlier -- and received
permission to search the car, Assistant District Attorney Fred DeMier said.

Inside the vehicle, the officer found a test tube that allegedly had
methamphetamine residue on it and a pipe that allegedly had marijuana
residue, he said.

Roark told the officer that he had found the items at the school that day,
DeMier said.

The officer also found a loaded shotgun inside the car, he said.

When Roark was being booked at the Ottawa County Jail, officers reportedly
found a packet of methamphetamine in his wallet and another test tube
concealed inside his clothing.

Roark was released on $7,000 bail and will be arraigned when the courthouse
reopens on Tuesday, jail records show.

There was no answer at Roark's home telephone.

``I'm not going to react to it until I really know what happened,''
Principal Mike Reece said, declin ing to discuss Roark's job status.

School Superintendent Dean Hughes said he was surprised by the arrest. On
Friday afternoon he was discussing with the school's attorney what
discipline Roark could face.

The teacher was working on a temporary contract after being a wrestling
coach and teacher in Anderson, Mo., for the last two years.

Larry Clay, the father of one of the school's wrestlers, said Roark came
into a rebuilding process for the Miami wrestling team but was fielding a
full squad and allowing freshmen, such as his son, Chris Clay, to wrestle
for the first time in several years.

``It's got to be disappointing for the kids. My son felt like Coach Roark
was giving them a chance and working with them,'' he said. ``From a
parent's standpoint, we thought the wrestling squad was going in a
different direction, so it's a shame.

``I feel for Coach Roark. But according to what he had on him, I don't want
my son around that.''

DeMier said he had not found Roark to have a criminal record.