Police say a teacher kidnapped 3 high school students after cheating them into his van for a ride.
John Edward Maust, 34, a teacher at Arroyo Pacific Academy in Arcadia was standing on the sidewalk around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night when three 17-year-old male students from the academy stopped to say hello.
As the teacher walked toward them, he appeared to be intoxicated, the students told investigators.
When Maust asked for a ride, the students said yes and he got in the car.
Something Maust said in the car caused the driver to pull over and the students to jump out, but Maust ordered them back, pulled a knife and told them to take him to a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant. One of the students was able to call 911 as they drove, deputies said.
When Maust saw a sheriff’s department helicopter, he got out of the car and fled, deputies said. None of the students was hurt.
On Sunday, around 1:30 p.m., Maust walked into the department’s Altadena station and surrendered without incident. He was booked at the Crescenta Valley Station for investigation of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and criminal threats. He was being held on $100,000 bail.
