Claremont : 2 Student Drug Arrests

A drug investigation at Claremont High School last September in which a 24-year-old undercover police officer spent two weeks practicing on the high school football team has resulted in the arrest of two teen-age students, Claremont police said.

A 17-year-old senior at Claremont High School was arrested for allegedly selling a quarter-gram of cocaine to undercover officer Jeff Hill on the high school campus Sept. 17.

And 18-year-old David Gilbert Deuel, a continuation student at San Antonio High School, was arrested for allegedly selling a case of beer to Hill on Sept. 10 in a park across from the Claremont High School campus, police said.

The investigation, which had been agreed to by school officials, was abruptly ended after two weeks when it was discovered that Hill, who was posing as a high school senior, had joined the Claremont football team at the urging of Coach Bob Baiz.

Prompted in part by encouragement from the coach, who thought he was a student, and by Hill’s reluctance to appear suspicious, the officer participated in seven practices with the Wolfpack squad.

Police Chief Dexter Atkinson said afterward that it had been a mistake to permit Hill to join team and that the football program had never been targeted for investigation.

Neither of the students arrested was involved in the football program, officials said.