YERINGTON - A Yerington High School teacher was arrested Tuesday and accused of soliciting prescription drugs from students and residents, investigators said.
Ronald Joseph Ruetten, 37, a social studies teacher from Yerington, is suspected of selling drugs, possessing stolen property and of elder abuse, Yerington police and Lyon County sheriff's deputies said.
Ruetten was being held at the Lyon County jail in lieu of $38,615 bail.
Among the five charges against him are allegations that he sold drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.
High school, school district and law enforcement officials declined Wednesday to give details of the allegations. More information would be available when "facts of the investigation" are clear, said Lyon County Deputy District Attorney Steve Rye.
Rye said a criminal complaint, which outlines the final set of charges against a defendant, has not yet been filed in the case.
"We have suspended Ruetten pending further investigation," said Lyon County School Superintendent Nat Lommori. "It's so he's not in the classroom with the children. We will be terminating him if he is found guilty."
People with information that might be connected to the investigation are urged to call the Yerington Police Department.
