2010: Montgomery County special education teacher charged with drug possession

Montgomery County special education teacher charged with drug possession

By Dan Morse

Washington Post Staff Writer 

Thursday, December 30, 2010; 10:44 PM 

A Montgomery County elementary school teacher was charged with possession of heroin after a traffic stop this week in Silver Spring, county officials said Thursday. 

Rebecca L. Amick, 25, who teaches special education at Woodlin Elementary School, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case, said Lesli Maxwell, a spokeswoman for Montgomery public schools. Amick has been released from custody, according to court records. 

Amick could not be reached for comment. It is unclear whether she has retained a lawyer. 

According to police accounts, Amick was one of three people in a 2002 Mercury Marquis traveling north on Georgia Avenue on Tuesday evening. A member of the Montgomery Police Community Action Team paced the Marquis going 40 mph in a 30 mph zone and pulled it over, said Lucille Baur, a police spokeswoman. The occupants gave the officer permission to search the car and to search them, Baur said. 

Amick had been sitting in a rear seat. Police found nine small plastic bags on her person, Baur said. Police said that an officer on the scene trained to recognize specific drugs determined their contents to be heroin but that the substance has yet to be tested in a forensics lab. 

Officers said they found four similar baggies, believed to hold heroin, as well as two used syringes and a spoon on another passenger, identified in court records as Faisal Abdullah, 25. Abdullah was released from custody, according to court records. He also could not be reached for comment. 

The driver was cited for speeding but was not charged in connection with drug offenses, Baur said. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/30/AR2010123004479.html