WILSON, Okla. (KTEN) — The principal of Wilson High School was arrested Tuesday as police investigated a report of a student in distress.

Officers were dispatched to the campus after a report of a 14-year-old who had trouble breathing after taking a "hit" from a vape pen.

According to a police report, a Wilson officer called the student's mother to get permission to interview the child to determine whether any other students could be in danger.

As officers were talking with the student in the back of an ambulance, Wilson High School Principal Bret Foster intervened on several occasions; police said Foster objected to the student being questioned without a parent present, asserting the child's legal rights.

"The officer told the principal several times to 'Go away; back up; get out of my investigation; you're obstructing.' The principal continued," said Wilson police Chief Kevin Coley. "With the severity of the situation, and not knowing what kind of drug the student had taken — if there was any more of the same drug on campus, as if somebody was selling these pens to kids or something — we didn't know. The officer knew that he needed to make a quick investigation."

That's when the officer decided to place Foster under arrest.

"The principal was just getting my son the help he needed," the boy's mother told KTEN.

Wilson Public Schools Superintendent Chris Grimm released a statement on the incident.

"A Wilson police officer and Principal Bret Foster got into a discussion related to the interrogation of one or more students," Grimm said. "We will have no further comment until the matter is fully investigated."

"While there is probable cause to support the arrest and filing of charges against Mr. Foster, I believe this matter is better handled administratively within the Wilson school district," District 20 District Attorney Melissa Handke said in a written statement.

A drug screen of the vape pen only tested positive for THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, police said.