School Trustee Faces Drug, Drunk Driving Charges

Police pulled over a school board trustee for erratic driving and in his van found illegal drugs and videotapes of sex partners, authorities said Thursday.

Simon E. Flores, 42, a member of the New Haven district board for nine years, was charged Thursday with misdemeanor counts of possession of methamphetamine and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. But Alameda County prosecutors did not charge him in connection with the tapes.

Because he is an elected official, he cannot be removed from the school board unless he is convicted or resigns, Supt. Guy Emanuele said.

“But it certainly isn’t the kind of role model that you’d want in any organization that deals with children,” Emanuele said.

Police said they discovered homemade videotapes of several women, including Flores’ wife, taken on a water bed in his Union City home. The tapes were in a bag marked with the name of a private school that Flores owns.

“His wife says she did not know she was being videotaped,” Police Capt. Mike Lanam said. “She’s offered to help identify the other women if she can.”

Police said Flores told them “at least two of the three knew I was doing it (taping) at the time,” Lanam said.

Police are trying to contact the women to determine if they were taped without their knowledge, which would be illegal. And Lanam said Flores may have made additional tapes.

“There are possibly other victims out there,” he said.

Lanam said police had received several earlier reports that Flores was selling and using methamphetamines, and found a bag containing the drugs in his van. They asked him if he sold the drugs.

“I got out of that four or five weeks ago,” police quoted Flores as saying.

There was no indication that Flores sold any drugs at schools, police said.

Police said Flores was stopped at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday when officers spotted him making erratic U-turns. The officers said his pupils were dilated and that he smelled of alcohol.

He owns a private elementary school named Free to Be II, and has been on the board since 1985.