FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) - A Fayetteville School District employee was arrested Thursday after police say he dealt illegal steroids in the area.
Nathan Otwell, 26, was arrested at school and booked into the Washington County Detention Center on suspicion of two counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He remains in jail awaiting a bond hearing, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Otwell is an in-school suspension supervisor at Hold Middle School. He has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation, according to a statement released by the Fayetteville School District.
The superintendent and school district are cooperating with police in the investigation, according to the statement.
For two months, detectives with the local Fourth Judicial Drug Task Force were investigating Otwell on suspicion of trafficking steroids in Northwest Arkansas, according to a preliminary arrest report.
Investigators were able to use a confidential informant to purchase more than 265 grams of steroids from Otwell on three different occasions while wearing a listening and recording device, the report states.
The confidential informant was also able to identify Otwell using a known photograph, according to the report.
On Aug. 28, a search warrant was executed for Otwell's residence at 825 Oak Grove Road in Elm Springs. During the search, investigators found 20.72 grams of a suspected powdered steroid and drug paraphernalia, the report states.
Detectives also found three capsules of a suspected steroid in the bathroom weighing 1.67 grams in a bottle labeled "D-Bol," which is a type of steroid, according to the report.
Otwell was later arrested at Holt Middle School, the report states.
Carol Driscoll is the aunt of one Holt Middle School student. She tells 5NEWS that she still feels safe with her family attending the school.
"I think it is isolated. That has got to be rare that that would happen," Driscoll said. "I just wouldn`t think that it would [happen] here."