School Aide Asked Teens to Join Drug Ring, Police Allege

A Newport Beach teacher’s aide who police say tried to recruit teenagers into a drug-dealing ring targeting students has been arrested on narcotics charges, authorities said Wednesday.

Carl Alfred Johnson, 22, a part-time aide at Newport Harbor High School, is suspected of selling marijuana to students on more than a dozen occasions, mostly at parks but at least once on a high school campus, said Sgt. Mike McDermott, spokesman for the Newport Beach Police Department.

Johnson was arrested Tuesday while allegedly selling marijuana to a 15-year-old boy at Bonita Creek Park. Police said they found four grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms and a small amount of the drug Ecstasy in Johnson’s pockets. A search of Johnson’s Newport Beach home turned up drug paraphernalia and six ounces of marijuana, police said.

Johnson, who has been released from jail on $25,000 bail, faces up to five years in prison on each count of selling drugs to a minor. McDermott said the Orange County district attorney’s office has yet to file formal charges.

McDermott said there is no evidence that Johnson did any dealing while on duty as a teacher’s aide. Johnson typically sold drugs at parks and sometimes tried to enlist teenagers into his operation, he said.

“He recruited customers by walking up to juveniles at a park and asking them if they had marijuana. If they didn’t, he would ask if they wanted to buy some. Later on, he tried to turn kids into agents. He had at least one teen working for him,” McDermott said.

During a weeklong investigation, police allege, they saw Johnson sell marijuana to a 15-year-old at a swim meet at Corona del Mar High School, the only time they saw Johnson deal drugs on a campus.

McDermott said Johnson cleared a criminal background check by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District before being hired. He also worked at either a district elementary or intermediate school, McDermott said.

Johnson tried to report to work Wednesday morning, police said, but was told to leave the campus by district officials. Martha Fluor, a Newport-Mesa Unified board member, said Johnson likely will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

“I’m just shocked and appalled, given the lengths we go to as a district to do background checks and to protect our students,” she said.