TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A Florida middle school principal was arrested in his office after allegedly arranging to buy crack cocaine from an undercover police officer in the office.
Tony Giancola was escorted out of the Van Buren Middle School in Tampa in handcuffs, the Tampa Tribune reported. While the officer posing as a drug dealer arranged the sale, other officers pretending to be parents waited in the lobby.
"We created the least commotion as possible for the students," said Laura McElroy, a police spokeswoman.
Parents and students described Giancola as a hardworking, caring principal who gave troublemakers a second chance -- and used his own money to buy pizzas for students and yearbooks for those who could not afford them.
He reportedly told police he became addicted to crack while he and his wife were having marital troubles.
