A north Cherokee County elementary school principal is on voluntary paid leave after being arrested on drunk driving charges.
Clayton Elementary School Principal John Hultquist, 53, was arrested just after 9:30 p.m. Oct. 23, after a pursuit involving Holly Springs Police, Canton Police and the Cherokee Sheriff ’s Office.
He was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center on charges of driving under the influence, attempting to elude and weaving over the roadway, jail records show.
Hultquist was released Oct. 24 on a $3,000 bond, according to the Cherokee Sheriff ’s Office.
School district spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby confirmed last week that Hultquist immediately complied with school board policy and reported the incident to authorities.
Former school district assistant superintendent Letitia Cline now is serving as interim principal for Clayton Elementary School.
“She is a longtime educator who lives in the Clayton Community and cares deeply about the community and its children,” Superintendent Frank Petruzielo penned in a letter to parents Oct. 26.
Also in the letter, the superintendent advises parents that the incident occurred off campus and was not related to Hultquist’s school district duties or students.
According to an arrest report, Hultquist is accused of driving drunk on Interstate 575 and failing to yield to blue lights. The incident began moments after Cherokee County dispatchers issued a lookout for a possible impaired driver traveling northbound in a Ford Expedition.
A Holly Springs Police officer spotted a vehicle matching the description given in the lookout and attempted to pull the driver over after observing the passenger-side tires cross over the center line, the report said.
In the arrest report, it states the driver, later identified as Hultquist, continued to travel northbound, passing exits 14, 16 and 19.
The report said a Canton Police officer joined the pursuit at about Exit 16, and near Exit 19, a Cherokee Sheriff ’s Office deputy deployed stop sticks.
Hultquist hit the stop sticks, got off the interstate at Exit 20 and came to stop at the top of the ramp at Riverstone Parkway, the report said.
Hultquist, according to the report, told officers that he did not stop because he was unaware that they were attempting to pull him over. The report said that he refused a field sobriety evaluation.
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 9:51 AM
