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SPRINGVILLE -- Jillene Elliott, 41, the band teacher at Spanish Fork Junior High, was taken into custody around 9:30 a.m. last Tuesday in Springville after another driver on Main Street reported her to officers.
Springville police Lt. Dave Caron says police made a stop for a traffic violation on Center Street and Elliott appeared "out of it."
"You'd say something to her, she'd open her eyes, maybe answer, then she'd sit and close her eyes, then you'd ask her to do whatever it was again, she'd open her eyes," Caron told KSL Newsradio Monday. "You had to keep going, trying to get her to talk."
Officers say Elliott wasn't able to walk alone. "When she did finally get out [of the car] she had to hang on to the door to keep her balance," Caron said. "The officer actually had to help her over to the sidewalk to keep her from falling."
Caron said Elliott failed some field sobriety tests and declined a breathalyzer. Officers obtained a search warrant and took a blood sample. Results aren't expected back soon.
"The reminder should be to people that it doesn't really matter what time of the day it is -- you need to be careful and drive defensively," Caron said. "As intoxicated as we believe she was, no one was injured because a citizen saw it and reported it." Administrators with Spanish Fork Junior High and Nebo School District are saying little about Elliott's status. A Nebo official only told KSL Elliott is employed in the district.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
