Drunk Teacher Pulls Knife On Students, Demands Fast Food

A Southern California high school teacher is facing charges amid allegations he drunkenly pulled a knife on three students, demanding that the trio drive him to the nearest Jack in the Box.

According to NBC4, the three students stopped to greet one of their teachers, 34-year-old John Edward Maust, whom they saw standing on a street corner around 9:30 pm Saturday. The teacher asked his students for a ride and they obliged, but it didn’t take them long to determine something was wrong with Maust. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Moore, “They immediately noticed he was intoxicated.” Moore says the teens didn’t feel “safe.” The driver reportedly became unnerved by their conversation with Maust, and pulled the car over. After the students exited the vehicle, Maust ordered them back in, reportedly brandishing a knife to scare them into complying. Once back in the car, the drunk teacher insisted that the students drive him to the nearest Jack in the Box restaurant.

One of the teens was able to stealthily dial 911, and police dispatched a helicopter. When the drunken teacher saw the helicopter trailing the car, he fled on foot. None of the students were hurt, according to MailOnline, which reports that Maust turned himself in to police around 1:30 pm on Sunday, surrendering without incident.

Maust is a teacher at Arroyo Pacific Academy, a private prep school in Arcadia, California. Philip Clarke, President of Arroyo pacific, released a statement in which he said the school was “immensely saddened.” Expressing concern for the “well being of a long-term, well-respected faculty member who is involved,” Clarke maintained that the school’s “primary concern is for the well being and welfare of our students.”

The incident isn’t the first time that teachers have been in the news for antics performed under the influence. In September of 2012, a Florida teacher was suspended amid allegations that she was high while teaching a class. The teacher failed a drug test, as The Inquisitr reported at the time. More recently, a Wisconsin teacher caused controversy when she was found to be drunk while chaperoning a fourth grade field trip to a bowling alley. Although she was far from the only educator watching over the children, the teacher nonetheless passed out around noon with a blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit for driving.

According to school officials, Maust was placed on indefinite administrative leave. The teacher faces charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and criminal threats for his drunken, knife-wielding antics.

[Image via The Daily Caller]