A teacher at a south St. Petersburg middle school was arrested Saturday and charged with child neglect and battery on a law enforcement officer.
Elizabeth M. Prescan, 34, a math teacher at the Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School, also was charged with resisting arrest.
According to St. Petersburg police, Prescan called 911 around 3:45 p.m. Saturday saying her 5-year-old son was missing. Officers were sent to her home on the 2800 block of 16th Ave. N. When they got there, Prescan was argumentative and wouldn't allow the officers to search the property for the child, police said.
She also appeared intoxicated, the officers reported.
Eventually, the officers were able to learn that the child could have been with his father. They contacted the father, who told them the child was at a friend's home.
Prescan was booked in the Pinellas County Jail around 6 p.m. She was being held Sunday morning on $1,150 bail. and booked into the Pinellas County Jail.
According to school records cited by the Tampa Bay Times, Prescan began teaching at Thurgood Marshall in 2011 and also serves as a math tutor and helps coordinate the Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) program.