A Lee County drivers ed teacher was arrested for DUI after he crashed his car into a ditch in a McDonald's parking lot.
Deputies say 51-year-old Richard Bull had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit.
"When we walked out to go see if he was OK and everything, he starts yelling a us, saying 'Get in the house, get in the house!' We were like we're at McDonald's, where is there a house?" Witness Ricky Duncan said.
One of his former students, Rex Steele, said he couldn't believe the drivers ed teacher would do this.
"Why? That was my question. Why would you do that? Knowing that you're teaching drivers ed, why would you do that?" He asked.
Steele said he and Duncan tried to help Bull, but it was a lost cause.
"He started stumbling around, pretty much acting all belligerent. He walked inside and was pushing customers going inside. He went inside and was arguing with the employees," he said.
According to the Lee county Sheriff's Office report, Bull was yelling at the manager about fixing his car.
Once deputies arrived, Bull told them he wasn't the one behind the wheel.
He said a friend of his, who he could only identify as Josh, was driving the truck because he was too intoxicated to drive his own truck.
He said after the crash, Josh fled.
Deputies determined Bull was in fact driving the vehicle, and after he failed field sobriety exams, he was arrested for DUI and DUI with property damage.
A school district spokeswoman said a first time DUI charge doesn't disqualify a teacher from the classroom, but because Bull was teaching a driving class, she can confidently say he will no longer teach drivers ed.
It's a situation that saddens Gena Estep, whose son took Bull's class. She said he was always a positive influence on his students. "I know what he's personally done for my son and for a lot of other children, because when they found out last night, a couple of them just cried," she said.
Four in Your Corner's Lisa Greenberg stopped by Bull's home in Alva, but a gate kept her from reaching his front door to see if he was home.
He's expected to be in court on December 7th.
