Parents, school officials and friends expressed shock and disappointment in the wake of a 7th grade math teacher's drug arrest. Robert Earl Hatchett Jr, 40, was arrested on January 26, but the full impact was not felt until Tuesday, when DPS officials escorted him from the Paul Robeson Academy, on the city's west side, and put him on administrative leave.
Hatchett was a respected teacher at the academy, and was in his first year as basketball coach at Detroit Central High School. He was driving westbound on I-94, headed for Chicago, when a Michigan State Police trooper pulled him over for a traffic violation in Calhoun County. Hatchett had a record of driving on a suspended license, no license, no proof of insurance. That may have roused enough suspicion in the trooper to want to search Hatchett's SUV, probably asking for consent, so to obviate any later defense claims that the search was illegal.
The trooper went through the '03 GMC Yukon and found 101 grams of heroin, street value perhaps $30,000, and more than $22,000 in cash. Those are dealer's quantities, so Hatchett was arraigned in a Battle Creek district court on a charge of possession with intent to deliver. After freeing himself on bond, he slid back to his life of teaching and coaching until the DPS dropped the hammer Tuesday, likely due to parental complaints; some parents worried that Hatchett might have been high during his math classes.
Also on Tuesday, his basketball team, which had a playoff game that night, was told Coach Hatchett would not be with them. Evidently deflated, the Central High squad was roundly defeated on the court.
Detroit Central High School principal Steven McGee probably expressed the feelings of many when he said: "I never would have suspected anything. He's...a highly qualified educator."
Hatchett was back in Battle Creek yesterday for a scheduled preliminary examination, but that had to be put over because Hatchett had a new attorney who was not up to speed on the case.
What transpires in the coming weeks will decide not only Hatchett's freedom, but whether he will ever teach in the DPS again.
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free my nigga hatch
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