September 25, 2018
By News Director Paul Joseph
An Elk City woman is free on bond after being charged with being intoxicated on the job while handling young children.
29-year-old April Lea Steele bonded out of the Beckham County Detention Center early last week on a $5-thousand-dollar bond after it was lowered from $20-thousand dollars.
According to an Elk City Police report, officers were called to a daycare center on North Oliver recently on a report that a co-worker was possibly intoxicated while at work. The officer wrote in the report that he took Steele into custody after observing Steele being intoxicated and seized a water bottle. Steele had allegedly told him that it contained her alcohol.
Earlier, staff at the daycare had concerns that she was drunk on the job, working in the room of 1-year-olds, where, the report says, she was entrusted to care for eight children. They ranged in age from 10 to 20 months of age.
The investigation determined, however, that at no time was Steele the sole care provider for the children that day.
During a later interview, Steele told investigators that she had gone to her residence about 12:30 that afternoon for a break and allegedly consumed two shots of vodka. Prior to returning to work, Steele explained that she put vodka in a plastic water bottle and brought the bottle to work placing it in a closet. She said that on multiple occasions she’d go to the closet where her belongings were kept and consume additional vodka from the plastic water bottle.
To prevent detection, she explained that she would use essential oils to cover or mask the scent of the vodka including placing the oils into her mouth.
The report adds that during the interview, Steele was unable to help establish a time line for the earlier events and told the investigator that her intoxication level was to the extent that she was unable to remember portions of the day.
Steele has been charged with one count of public intoxication and one count of child neglect.
Her initial appearance was last Thursday and is due back in court on October 1 at 8:30 am.
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