Dwight Cook, the Dalton cheerleading coach who was arrested on drug charges last week, was quickly released from jail, but it's unclear whether his business will survive.
"He's out on bond, so I don't know if he's still teaching children or not," Bruce Frazier, a spokesman for the Dalton Police Department, said Monday.
Dwight Jerome Cook, 27, the owner of Sideline All-Stars gym, had a methamphetamine pipe in his pocket at the time of his arrest, according to Dalton police. He also had 11 grams of meth in his office at the gym, they said.
Cook was the subject of a month-long undercover investigation. He was charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of tools for the commission of a crime, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The Dalton man taught teens and younger children a mix of gymnastics and dance routines, Frazier said. Some of the kids were on school cheering squads and others were aspiring cheerleaders, but Cook was not affiliated with any school. Police do not believe that he sold drugs to the kids or that his employees sold drugs, Frazier said.
Cook worked with three other instructors at the gym, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The newspaper reported that the company's website said last week that the instructors coached a competitive squad called the Vipers, which won the championship at an all-star event in Chattanooga in 2010.
Frazier, the police spokesman, said Cook listed the gym, located on Powell Drive, as his residence and that they found a pillow and bedding there. A call to the gym Monday afternoon went unanswered.
Cook started the business in a former carpet building during the recession, according to The Daily Citizen newspaper in Dalton. The newspaper described a tearful interview Cook gave soon after his arrest, when television cameras were camped outside his gym. Cook said he didn't think parents would bring kids there anymore.
On a coffee table in the lobby were parenting magazines and a couple of books. The title of one: "Praying Through Tough Times."
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