By Nathan Owens
Staff Writer
STRONG — A Gardner-Strong Elementary School employee was arrested Friday after law enforcement searched his vehicle and found drugs, various forms of identification, personal checks and debit cards belonging to other people, officials said.
Victor M. Jackson, 61, of 313 Cargile Ave., was arrested in connection with possessing more than 60 debit cards and other means of identification belonging to other people, and possessing various drugs inside his car, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Jackson is facing felony charges of first-degree forgery, theft by receiving, possession of Hydrocodone, possession of a controlled substance – other, and possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor.
Around 10 a.m., Friday, deputies and narcotics investigators responded to Gardner-Strong Elementary School regarding two suspicious men on campus, according to the sheriff’s office report.
After searching the grounds, deputies couldn’t find the men, but while searching the parking lot, they found a brick next to a teal Honda Civic with marks along the window, said Capt. Charlie Phillips of the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
“It looked as if someone was trying to break into the vehicle,” Phillips said.
Deputies notified the owner of the vehicle, Jackson, a school employee. After conducting a K-9 search for drugs in the vehicle, deputies saw a positive response from the dog.
In Jackson’s possession were pill bottles containing 38 Carisoprodol pills, 22 Hydrocodone pills, and four duffle bags containing 66 debit cards, 29 personal checks and multiple identification and insurance cards with names other than Jackson’s, according to the sheriff’s office.
In 35th Judicial District Court Monday, Judge Jack Barker agreed with the prosecutor’s suggestion of a $50,000 bond and banned Jackson from Gardner-Strong Elementary School.
Sheriff’s deputies are looking into how Jackson came into possession of other people’s debit cards and information, Phillips said.
Jackson was being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond, cash or corporate surety. He has since been released from jail.
He faced similar charges while he was a physical education teacher at Northwest Elementary School in El Dorado.
In September 2001, El Dorado police arrested Jackson for charges pertaining to the illegal presentation of food coupons. He pled guilty to those charges in October 2002, according to the archives of the El Dorado News-Times.
Before that, Jackson was arrested and charged with theft by receiving and simultaneous possession of handguns and illegal narcotics with intent to deliver.
Since then, he had his criminal record expunged and began working for the Strong-Huttig School District, Phillips said.
Nathan Owens may be reached at 870-862-6611 or at [email protected]. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter at nowensednt.