Teacher Ordered to Drug Program

A Brea Olinda High School teacher has been sentenced to a one-year drug rehabilitation program after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including possession of methamphetamines and marijuana.

The case against Jon Noel Looney began in March when Looney attempted to evade Buena Park police. A 100-mph chase started when officers saw him parked late at night at a motel known for drug activity.

Police said Looney threw a bag filled with marijuana on the freeway when he was finally stopped by officers.

Court documents showed that Looney had admitted using drugs in the hours before the incident. In addition to marijuana, police said, Looney, 48, was in possession of methamphetamines.

Looney -- who is on unpaid leave from the school, where he teaches industrial arts -- pleaded guilty Monday to felony evasion and drug possession and misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and destruction of evidence for throwing the bag of marijuana onto the freeway. Orange County Superior Court Judge Roger Robbins also ordered him to serve three years’ probation.

It was Looney’s second drug conviction in two years. In 2001 he pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana, methamphetamines and being under the influence of drugs. He completed a 32-hour drug program last year as part of a plea agreement that kept him from being incarcerated.

Looney, of Yorba Linda, has taught in the Brea Olinda Unified School District for 17 years and was head varsity coach at Brea Olinda High School in Brea for 14 years. He stepped down as coach last season for personal reasons.