Moonlooting

As the principal of Upper Merion High School in suburban Philadelphia and, more recently, a $30,000-a-year coordinator of school services, Jay Smith, 50, carved a name for himself as a tough administrator. An Army Reserve colonel, he was known as a no-nonsense expert on school discipline who once advocated expelling 60 "dangerous" students because of their "criminalistic" behavior.

According to police, Smith's knowledge of such behavior may have been more than academic. Last month he was caught allegedly breaking into a parked van and brandishing a gun to boot. When cops searched his car, they found a mask, guns and burglar's tools. The next day a longtime friend of Smith's, Harold Jones Jr., a librarian for a Philadelphia high school, was arrested leaving Smith's house with several pounds of marijuana. Subsequently, another county charged Smith with stealing $53,000 from a Sears, Roebuck store last year.

Smith and Jones (real names, the police insist) face numerous charges, most aimed at Smith. Free on bail and awaiting trial, Smith, who claims that it is all a setup, is working on a manuscript about single life and leisure-time activities. If convicted, he could have lots of time for firsthand research.

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