By Ben Kleppinger and Abigail Whitehouse

STANFORD — A Garrard County special education teacher is facing drug charges after possibly overdosing on heroin inside a vehicle Tuesday morning.

Stephen T. Grubbs has been charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs (heroin), possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without insurance, according to Kentucky State Police.

KSP Vehicle Enforcement Officer Matthew Hutti and Stanford police officers found Grubbs unconscious behind the wheel of a wrecked vehicle along Lee Drive in Stanford at approximately 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, according to a news release from KSP.

“After arriving on scene, officers located a vehicle which appeared to have exited Lee Drive and (struck) several trees,” the release reads. “Officers then attempted to make contact with the operator (Grubbs), who appeared to be unconscious.”

According to Stanford Police Chief Zach Middleton, there was evidence in the vehicle indicating that Grubbs could have possibly overdosed on what is suspected to be heroin.

Middleton said Grubbs was given CPR at the scene by responders from Lincoln County EMS and the Stanford Fire Department. Grubbs regained consciousness before he was transported to Fort Logan Hospital.

Police are still unsure how the vehicle ended up in the tree line but Middleton said it didn’t appear that Grubbs was driving on the roadway at the time.

“It appeared the vehicle had rolled from the church up on Lee Drive down. It doesn’t look like he was driving and ran off the road or anything, it just looked like it was sitting and just rolled,” Middleton said. “It rolled a pretty good ways.”

If emergency responders had arrived 10 or 15 minutes later, Middleton said they probably wouldn’t have been able to revive Grubbs.
KSP Vehicle Enforcement Officer Dennis Johnson said Grubbs suffered a possible overdose on heroin, but there has not been medical confirmation of that fact yet. Grubbs was not arrested because he was taken to Fort Logan Hospital for treatment.

“He was just cited because of the simple fact that he was transported to Fort Logan Hospital … and it was unsure how long he would be there seeking medical treatment,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he did not know Tuesday afternoon whether Grubbs had been released from the hospital yet.

Grubbs is listed as a special education teacher in the Garrard County School District’s staff directory. According to multiple sources, he also has a role as a coach with the Garrard County football team.

Garrard County acting Superintendent Corey Keith said Tuesday that Grubbs “has been suspended with pay pending further investigation.” Keith declined to comment further on the situation.

Stanford Police Department is investigating the collision.