HOUSTON (AP) -- A chemistry teacher who was months behind on her car payments gave passing grades to two failing students after asking them to steal her Chevrolet Malibu and burn it so she could collect on its insurance, authorities alleged.
Officers were searching Tuesday night for Tramesha Lashon Fox, 32, of Kingwood, after obtaining arrest warrants on the two felony counts.
The Aldine Senior High School students, Roger Luna, 18, and Darwin Arias, 17, were also charged with arson. Luna was arrested Tuesday night, and Arias was arranging to surrender.
Neither Fox nor Arias were in custody Wednesday morning, said Deputy Kathryn Martin, spokeswoman for the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
Fire investigators said Fox admitted during an interview to the scheme to collect the insurance proceeds.
Fox approached the students on campus in May about the plan, said senior fire investigator Dustin Deutsch of the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office. The students thought she was joking, but she continued to pursue them, he said.
On May 27, the last day of school, the students took the unlocked car from a shopping mall, drove it to a wooded area, doused it with charcoal lighter fluid and let it burn, Deutsch said.
Fox reported the theft that day. The car was found 12 days later in a wooded area near Arias' home.
Fox bought a 2005 Toyota Corolla before she reported the other car stolen, investigators said. She owed about $20,000 on the 2003 Chevrolet, Deutsch said.
Luna and Arias had been failing Fox's class until their final exam. Arias received a 90; Luna an 80, Deutsch said. The grades were high enough to pass the semester.
Aldine Independent School District officials said they were waiting to see the fire marshal's report.
''Our folks will then do a thorough investigation and then make a decision as far as employment status,'' said Leticia Fehling, Aldine ISD spokeswoman.
Information from: Houston Chronicle
