WILLIMANTIC–A serious crash occurred in Willimantic on Route 32 Wednesday afternoon.
Willimantic Police have arrested Jessica Duers, 44, of Mansfield, and charged her with driving under the influnce and assault in the second degree with a motor vehicle. She is being held on a $50,000 bond and is due in court on Dec. 4.
According to meeting minues from a Columbia Board of Education meeting, Duers was hired as a life skills teacher at the Horace W. Porter School. Previously, Duers was a teacher in Bozrah, according to Superintendent Paul Gagliarducci, but she was laid off last year due to budget constraints. She taught language arts at the Fields Memorial School, a middle school, for one year.
She was convicted in January 2010 for a September 2009 incident of driving under the influence, and was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended after two days, and one year of probation. She was also convicted in June 2010 for a December 2009 incident of driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license. In this case she was sentenced to 30 days in jail. In a third incident, Duers was arrested in June 1998 for driving under the influence and failure to drive right. She was convicted in August 1998 and sentenced to six months in jail.
