A car belonging to Tramesha Fox, who's accused of arson and insurance fraud, was allegedly burned by two ex-students.
Posted on 06/29/2005 1:14:32 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Two Aldine Senior High School students were failing their chemistry course when their teacher approached them with an unexpected opportunity.
The teens could change their academic fate with one project — and it wouldn't be in the chemistry lab. For a little help in torching and dumping her financially troublesome car, investigators said, the teacher offered a tantalizing possibility — passing grades.
Now, teacher and students are facing far more serious trouble than any report card or grade book could offer.
Tramesha Lashon Fox, 32, of Kingwood, is charged with insurance fraud, a first-degree felony, and arson, a second-degree felony, authorities said. Officers were still searching for her Tuesday evening after obtaining warrants for her arrest.
A listed phone number for Fox could not be found Tuesday.
The two students, Roger Luna, 18, of the 100 block of Coach Lamp, and Darwin Arias, 17, of the 1100 block of Fallbrook, were also charged with arson. Luna was arrested Tuesday night, and Arias was making arrangements to surrender.
Fox, in an interview with Harris County fire marshal's investigators last week, admitted to conspiring with the two students to destroy her 2003 Chevrolet Malibu so she could collect insurance proceeds. In exchange, she told investigators, she gave the students passing grades.
Luna and Arias had been failing Fox's class up until their final exam, but secured grades high enough to pass the semester, investigators said. Arias was given a score of 90 on the final after "miserably" failing the course the previous semester, and Luna was given an 80, said senior fire investigator Dustin Deutsch of the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.
Aldine Independent School District officials said Tuesday they knew little about the case. Fox, who completed her first year of teaching there, remains employed. School officials have not yet reviewed the law enforcement report that led to the charges against her.
Once the Harris County fire marshal's report is in hand, "our folks will then do a thorough investigation and then make a decision as far as employment status," said Leticia Fehling, Aldine ISD spokeswoman.
Fox previously worked for the Houston Independent School District, where she was a teacher at Welch Middle School. Records show HISD originally hired her in August 2000.
Fox was at least three months behind on her car payments and facing repossession when her vehicle was reported stolen on May 27, Deutsch said. The car had been destroyed by fire when it was found 12 days later in a wooded area near Arias' home.
Investigators say Fox had bought a new car, a 2005 Toyota Corolla, before the older car was reported stolen and burned. She owed about $20,000 on the Chevrolet, Deutsch said.
Deutsch said the students thought Fox was joking when she first approached them on campus in early May about the conspiracy. As she continued to pursue them, they realized she was serious.
The alleged plan called for Fox to leave her car unlocked at Northline Mall. On May 27, the last day of school, both students drove to the mall and found Fox's car unsecured with the windows down and the keys in the passenger compartment.
After the car was dumped in a wooded area in the 1300 block of Fallbrook, it was doused with charcoal lighter fluid and burned. The vehicle was vandalized and its steering column broken to make the car theft appear genuine, Deutsch said. Fox reported the theft to police that same day.
The torched car wasn't found until June 8. Investigators then traced the vehicle to Fox.
When officers first talked to Fox, she implicated other students in the crime, indicating she must have been targeted in a revenge plot, Deutsch said. Luna and Arias were not among those she named, he said.
After calling her in for questioning last week, Fox admitted to the hatched plan.
One of Fox's neighbors wasn't surprised to learn of the alleged arson plot. Fox told neighbors that she was a teacher when she moved into the neighborhood last summer in the 2100 block of North Park at Kings Manor, said Cinda Koh.
Neighbors were suspicious when Fox drove up with her new Toyota because she often complained about subsisting on a public school teacher's meager salary, Koh said.
"She's always saying that she doesn't have any money and doesn't know how she's going to pay her bills," Koh said.
peggy.ohare@chron.com mike.glenn@chron.com
These stories still blow me away.
Google these words, teacher arrested, in the "news" section of google and see what pops up for ONE MONTH! Be sure to page through the list - by clicking on page numbers at bottom of page.
Here is today's list Results: 1,930 for teacher arrested. (0.71 seconds)
A car belonging to Tramesha Fox, who's accused of arson and insurance fraud, was allegedly burned by two ex-students.
LOL! At least she's interacting with the students, and they've probably learned more through this experience than they ever would have learned in her chemistry class ...
But I bet her payments were only $149.00 a month and she didn't have to make a down payment.
Amanda Meyer, 24, of Clifton Park is charged with possession of a controlled substance in the 5th degree. Amanda Meyer was accused of cocaine possession.
Meyer teaches first grade in the Shenendehowa School District.
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Lake County teacher was arrested after deputies said she tried to stab her husband.
Deputies arrested 38-year-old Freda Coleman Russell early Tuesday morning for aggravated assault and armed burglary.
Deputies said Russell broke into a woman's apartment and accused her of cheating with her husband. When Russell's husband arrived, she tried to stab him in the face with a roasting fork.
Russell is being held on $40,000 bond.
Teacher arrested for bomb threats
6/2/2005 9:23 AM
By: The Associated Press
A 27-year-old music teacher was arrested today for making bomb threats at the elementary school where she worked.
Authorities said Anna Markle, of North Syracuse, was charged with four counts of first-degree falsely reporting an incident, a felony that carries a prison term of up to four years.
Markle was arrested following a two-year investigation into a series of bomb threats made at the Bear Road Elementary School in North Syracuse in February and March, 2003.
According to investigators, Markle authored four threatening notes found at the school. Markle has been suspended by the school district.
Vegas junior high teacher arrested for luring students for sex
June 7, 2005, 05:00 PM
He's supposed to be a role model for your children. But a Las Vegas junior high teacher is facing possible prison time. Police say Marc Horton used the internet to attempt to lure children to have sex. The 27 year old faces seven felony counts, including five counts of luring a child, attempted sexual assault, attempted sex with a student and one gross misdemeanor count lewdness.
Each count of luring a child is punishable by up to six years in prison if Horton is convicted.
Horton teaches at Garside Junior High School near Torrey Pines & Alta. Metro's internet crimes division was tipped off by a complaint from a concerned parent.
The parent told police that someone was talking about sex online with her daughter through a web service called "my space dot com". Police traced those conversations back to Horton and arrested him Friday afternoon.
Officers took him into custody just minutes before he was expected to meet up with a child.
At the heart of the discrepancy may well be a reluctance on the part of educators to report campus crime fully. A survey by the National Association of School Resource Officers found that 89 percent of school police believe crime is already underreported. "It's the scarlet letter in education today," says Mr. Trump.administrators have said to me privately that they would rather be academically failing than be a dangerous school." ***
Hannah Penn teacher arrested
The middle-school gym teacher was charged with indecent assault. The school district was also cited.
By RICK LEE and TED CZECH
Daily Record/Sunday News
Friday, June 10, 2005
Hannah Penn Middle School gym teacher Edward Fullum III was jailed Thursday in lieu of $25,000 bail for alleged sexual contact with four female students.
Fullum, 55, of Spring Garden Township, is charged with four counts each of indecent assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with minors. He also is charged with three counts of harassment involving three other students, York City Police Detective Dana Ward said.
You'll be busy all day if you post them all.
It's eye opening.
She certainly makes the list of "Really Stupid Criminals".
She left enough clues around to make everybody suspicious, and the icing on the cake is when she involves THREE students in her conspiracy, when even ONE is risky.
South Valley Teacher Arrested For Theft
June 9, 2005 — A South Valley teacher is in custody, accused of stealing money from her school's cafeteria.
Investigators say over the last six months, Karina McCorkill stole $8,000 from Royal Oaks Elementary in Visalia.
Police arrested the fourth grade teacher after they say a surveillance camera caught her stealing cash and checks from the cafeteria.
She is charged with burglary, theft and possession of stolen property.
Whoops! I meant "TWO"
LOL! At least she's interacting with the students, and they've probably learned more through this experience than they ever would have learned in her chemistry class ...
Burning the candles at both ends....
A Montgomery man who had worked as a third-grade teacher at Creighton Elementary School in Conroe pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of attempted enticement of a minor and will face sentencing by a federal judge in the fall.
Hogan Tebbs Brooks, 36, pleaded guilty to the charge on June 20 in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore of the U.S. Southern District Court of Texas, according to Nancy Herrera, executive assistant U.S. Attorney.
If the court accepts the plea agreement, the United States will move to dismiss five counts of possession of child pornography, each with a penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole and up to a $250,000 fine.
Brooks still faces anywhere from five to 30 years in prison for the enticement charge and will learn how much time he has to serve during a sentencing hearing in Gilmore's court Sept. 19. In addition to prison time, Brooks could also pay a fine of up to $250,000. The United States has agreed not to oppose Brooks' anticipated request to the federal court and to the United States Probation Office that he receive a downward adjustment of his offense level, Herrera said.
No kidding!
No deep pockets to go after AND the teachers' union is the Democratic Party's biggest money and muscle contributor, so the msm media isn't going to pursue it.
An Omaha public school teacher is under arrest on methamphetamine charges. Lynn Weibel, a fourth grade teacher at Wakonda Elementary, is charged with possession of meth.
Ms. Weibel's husband Michael is charged with intent to distribute the drug and the two were arrested at their Bellevue home on Tuesday.
Charges were filed Wednesday in Sarpy County.
Lynn Weibel is accused of meth possession, a Class Four felony. The charges against Michael Weibel are more serious.
The Omaha Public School District is not commenting aside from confirming that Weibel did teach fourth grade at Wakonda Elementary. The school district says she's never been in trouble in the past.
This is the second case this year involving meth and a teacher from OPS. Jolene Cortez, a second grade teacher at Conestoga elementary school, was fired in May after she was arrested on meth charges. According to court records, she admitted to selling the drug to make extra money.
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