Daniel J. Nicksic left St. Thomas More School in the back of a police car Wednesday, under arrest for cocaine possession.
Nicksic, 29, was taken into custody after students had left for the day and was "very cooperative" with police officers who arrested him on a warrant for possession of a controlled substance, Hammond Police Chief Brian Miller said. "
I'm very saddened," said Principal Chet Nordyke on Wednesday. "We had no idea (about the charges). He was a nice guy."
Nicksic was found with a small quantity of what appeared to be cocaine in his car during a Sept. 7 traffic stop in the 4300 block of Cameron, Miller said.
Nicksic had joined the faculty at St. Thomas only a week earlier, Nordyke said, and a background check conducted before he was hired by the diocese showed no prior criminal record.
Nicksic previously worked as a substitute in Hammond.
He was not formally charged until Wednesday, as prosecutors had to wait for the State Police crime lab to complete tests on the drugs confiscated at the scene.
Nicksic's laid-back attitude put off some parents, though it made him popular with students, said several St. Thomas More parents, who declined to give their names.
"I'm not surprised," said one father with two children enrolled. "The guy was from a different planet. My kids didn't like him much. He was always going off somewhere to smoke cigarettes and drinking Red Bull (energy drinks). "He was a goofball."
Nordyke convened a meeting with staff members after Nicksic was led out of the building.
"We prayed for him and his family, and also for our school and students," he said
4 comments:
Knowing Dan from 4 yrs ago, I'd say that a leopard doesn't change his spots. He was into drugs then, and he still is. His description as given in the paper is exactly how I knew him then. Laid back, easy going, and a "goof ball" as one parent described him. Yep, that's Danny all right. I had hoped he had cleaned up his act, but I guess not.
Dan hasn't changed much, I see. He was always taking the "easy" path when I knew him in college and he is now too. He was into drugs then and I thought maybe he had changed, grown up, matured. But he hasn't. He has had a rough road along the way, but he knew the dangers of drugs and didn't take the chance to change when he could have. Schools must do drug checks. That is the only way.
First of all, quit idealizing teachers - it is not healthy. Second, is it so wrong for an individual to be human?? Third, what sort of RELIGIOUS school officials say such nasty things about an individual? I do not think Jesus would have turned Dan away in his time of need. The guy has an addiction problem and he happens to be a teacher. So what? Do you know how many teachers are members of AA and NA? They are not a group of people who automatically become shielded from temptation as soon as they start teaching. C'mon - what if this were your kid? Would you simply give up on him?? I certainly do not consider Dan's drug problem to be anywhere comparable to, uhm ... say, priests molesting children. He's hurting himself - not others. Let the guy get some help and take a hard look at yourselves before you start judging others.
I too, knew Dan years ago, and we too, did a whole bunch of drugs. Everything from acid, cocaine, prescription drugs, crack, heroine, everything. He just must love doing drugs. He's a drug-head man, thats about it though...oh yeah, he plays a guitar too. But obviously that isn't getting him anywhere either.
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