GYM TEACHER SUSPENDED AFTER ARREST

In her 15 years with Oklahoma City schools, Susan Denise Rose has earned a
reputation as a model teacher.

Her Star Elementary School co-workers and students certainly never expected
to see her in the local news -- accused of cocaine possession.

''This is the kind of teacher that whatever you need, she's right there,''
district spokeswoman Cynthia Reid said Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma City school officials suspended Rose, 37, with pay
pending an investigation.

Oklahoma City police arrested the physical education instructor late Monday
after they said they witnessed her stop for one minute at a known drug
house.

About midnight Monday, police stopped Rose's car in the 1100 block of W
Hefner Road.

She let police search the car, and they found .04 grams of a substance that
appeared to be rock cocaine under the front passenger seat, a police report
said. The substance tested positive for cocaine and was kept as evidence.

An angry Rose on Tuesday called her arrest a ''nightmare.''

Asked whether she had cocaine in her car, she told The Oklahoman, ''That's
so wrong, sir. That's why I let them search the car. I had nothing in my
car. They showed me a little piece of something they said they found under
my front passenger seat.''

She said she bought the car about a week ago.

''I'm very upset because those things didn't happen,'' she said of the
allegations in a police report. ''All I did was pull into a driveway
looking for a friend's address, and I backed right out. I never got out.''

A police officer said the car was seen at two other houses where police
believe drugs are kept and sold.

About 11:40 p.m. Monday, a car pulled into a driveway in the 600 block of
NW 114 and stayed for one minute before the driver left to stop at a house
in the 900 block of NW 116 Court, a police report said.

A house at 908 NW 116 Court was raided March 11 by police. Four people were
arrested on drug-related complaints, and police found traces of crack
cocaine.

Monday night, an officer saw the driver leave the same house in about a
minute and disappear into heavy traffic before being stopped on W Hefner
Road.

Rose was taken to the Oklahoma County jail on a complaint of possession of
a controlled and dangerous substance. She posted a $3,000 bond and was
released.

Her arrest is the third metro-area drug arrest of a school teacher in a month.

Rose questioned Tuesday whether police planted drugs in her car, hoping she
might lead them to drug dealers. She said two detectives called her Tuesday
seeking her cooperation.