Orange County Teacher Had a Drug Conviction in 2001

A Brea Olinda High School teacher arrested Sunday on suspicion of drug possession and leading police on a high-speed chase had been convicted of similar drug charges in 2001, yet didn’t lose his job.

The state education code requires that a teacher convicted of such offenses be deprived of a teaching credential.

“The main reason we didn’t act on it is that we didn’t know about it,” said Tim Harvey, superintendent of the Brea Olinda Unified School District, where Jon Noel Looney has taught for 17 years.

Looney, 48, the high school’s former varsity football coach, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of possessing methamphetamine and marijuana, felony evasion while driving recklessly, destroying and concealing evidence, resisting arrest and driving under the influence of methamphetamine.

Looney stood with his head bowed and hands in his pockets as the charges were read in a Fullerton courtroom. His bail was set at $25,000. Looney’s lawyer, Thomas E. Anthony, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

School officials said Looney would be placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

Looney, who lives in Yorba Linda, teaches industrial arts and was head varsity coach for 14 years. He was asked to step down as coach at the end of last season for what school officials describe as a “mutual decision” based on personal considerations.

Harvey said law enforcement authorities usually inform district officials when a teacher is arrested or charged with a narcotics-related crime, as Buena Park police did after Sunday’s arrest.

Arrested in Midseason

In the middle of an undefeated 2001 season that led to a Southern Section title, however, no such notification was made when Looney was arrested Oct. 28 on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine and marijuana, and for being under the influence of methamphetamine, Harvey said.

“To inform us, they’d have to know he was a teacher,” Harvey said.

It was unclear late Wednesday which agency arrested Looney in the 2001 case, and which would be responsible for notifying the district.

Looney eventually pleaded guilty in that case and was diverted into a drug-treatment program. Court records show he completed a 32-hour drug program in June 2002. Under the terms of a plea agreement, all charges would have been dismissed had he stayed off drugs for a year after completing treatment.

On Sunday, however, Looney allegedly told police he had used drugs shortly before his arrest that morning, court documents show.

Police said Looney was at the wheel of a pickup truck when he was observed driving erratically in the parking lot of the Best Value Inn on the 300 block of North Beach Boulevard Anaheim about 1:25 a.m. He allegedly sped away when police tried to stop him, running at least one red light before striking a car, authorities said.

According to police, Looney got out of the car and threw a bag filled with marijuana onto the freeway.

Police said they later found him in possession of methamphetamine, according to a probable-cause declaration filed with the court.

“Looney admitted to using methamphetamine earlier tonight,” a police investigator wrote in the court declaration. Lab tests confirmed the substance contained amphetamines, better known as speed, the court records allege.

Takes a Sabbatical

In 1999, Looney led Brea Olinda to its first Southern Section championship game in 36 years, and took the next season off to spend more time with his three young sons.

“The bottom line,” he said at the time, “is I got tired of having to juggle so much and not doing everything the way it needed to be done.

“It just got where it wasn’t manageable to be a father, a teacher and a football coach. I need a break to rethink how I do things.”