BENSON – A high school teacher has been suspended with pay following his arrest by the State Highway Patrol. Latrell Tyree McDougald, age 24, of Erwin, was arrested on multiple charges by a Johnston County state trooper.
Around 1:27am Sunday, Feb. 4, Trooper J.F. Deal reportedly clocked a Dodge Charger speeding 96 mph in a 70 mph zone on Interstate 40 near the 325 mile marker. The trooper attempted to stop the car, however the driver, later identified as McDougald, allegedly accelerated and turned off the headlights.
The suspect exited off I-40 onto NC 242, and then turned onto several secondary roadways before stopping. The chase lasted approximately five minutes, but reportedly reached speeds of 150 miles per hour while on Interstate 40.
McDougald, a math teacher at Triton High School, was charged with felony fleeing to elude arrest, speeding 96 mph in a 70 mph zone, speeding 150 mph in a 70 mph zone, reckless driving, failure to heed to a light or siren, window tint violation, covering/disguising a registration plate, failure to maintain lane control, failure to stop at a stop sign, and driving left of center.
The Dodge Charger was seized under the NC Run and Done law.
Harnett County Schools confirmed McDougald was hired in January 2023 as a math teacher at Triton High.
“He is currently suspended with pay pending a review of this situation. We are not in a position to comment regarding ongoing law enforcement investigations,” according to a statement from school officials.
McDougald was released from the Johnston County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond.
That trooper sits there about 2 to 3 times a week at this time. You would be surprised of the people that are speeding at that time of the morning on I40… How do I know, I am on the way to work at that time.
Next math problem: If a teacher traveling 150 mph in one direction is met by a trooper traveling 150 mph in the same direction, how long will it take before the teacher gets stainless steel bracelets and loses his car at auction to benefit the school system?
Example for the students..Sheesh
Suspended with pay pending a review of this situation? What is there to review. The man could have killed the trooper, killed a civilian running the stop sign, And other charges, so I ask again, What is there to review. This sure is not a man I want mentoring my children. He is off the wall and does not care about who he might have killed. If he wanted to kill himself that’s his business. What a shmuck! By the way McDougald, thanks for the car and great job Trooper. Glad your safe.
Innocent until Proven Guilty in a court of law
Nice, just the kind of kid i want teaching my own kid. Awfully young to be given the responsibility of teaching high school kids. Just a kid himself. And not a very respectful one.
With all do respect as a student of Mcdougald he is an amazing teacher, he has managed to make from a below average student to now getting straight A’s in all my math classes
I could do that easily….., just give you an A.
Lol please. With the parents that many of these kids have or don’t have, I’m sure Mr. McDougald is more than qualified to teach these kids . He got his chance at making a run for it and took it. Just not fast enough lol .
Young people make bad choices! Don’t take away the good that he has done at his job. He is a great teacher and coach !
I agree but unfortunately he’s probably going to be out of a job.
Suspended with pay = paid vacation. This is your tax dollars at work. #VoteOutIncumbents
Again, it’s the America we love because he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Based on your other posts, you don’t seem too interested in respecting the laws created by elected officials. As the other people put it, you’re very ignorant sounding.
@Jennifer: “Innocent until proven guilty” has nothing to do with him receiving free money. He should be suspended *without* pay until the resolution. “Ignorant” people see nothing wrong with paying this man to do nothing.
Again, you can’t remove someone from a job, without pay, without due process. And again, you choose to ignore the rule of law because it doesn’t fit your agenda. The school district clearly understands it. It’s the uneducated like you who do not.
Everybody makes mistakes, he’s a great teacher for math for students , what he did wasn’t call for, all u had to do was stop and it might would’ve been a better outcome
Who was your English teacher?
Disregard his wanton disregard for safety, people’s lives, following the laws, obeying authority, selfishness……. He’s a good teacher. ( sarcasm intended)
Why would this have anything to do with his job? Does this have anything to do with his ability to teach? Was a student in the car?
teachers should have moral character
Even though he is a teacher, he is still a young man. Yes, he should have integrity while off duty from his teaching job, however, he is 24 years old. Which means at 24 he may still be young and dumb and make bad decisions. I am glad no one was hurt in his immature actions. Does this have anything to do with what he may do in his classroom? How many people that are commenting about how bad this guy is, didn’t make a bad decision or two away from work, when you were his age? Let’s hope he is going to learn from his consequences from the law and the school system that he doesn’t do this type of actions again.
the bad decision was speeding 96 in a 70 zone. The part that shows recklessness was the fact he made a conscious decision to attempt to flee and put several other people in danger. Have you ever seen the aftermath of a wreck between 2 vehicles running 70 mph? Now double the speed of one of those vehicles. The reason our society is getting so bad is because of people treating acts like this as something that isn’t that bad. I hope you never have to find out firsthand the severity of the worst outcome that could have come from this like some have.
Joe…. Hopefully you didn’t get that out of my statement. I agree these things could be horrible, however, in this case it didn’t. My point of the last sentence, was there should be heavy consequences from law enforcement and the school system that he learns from it. If that means he loses his job and his licenses then so be it. My other point was we all have made bad decisions when we were young. Some learn from them and some don’t.
Everyone should have moral character. If you want to get into it, the definition of moral character has clearly changed over the years. Who’s defining his character, You? No thanks Heather.
This is complete nonsense!!!!! A teacher driving 150 MPH!!!!!!!??????Teachers that I had many years ago didn’t know the first thing about driving!!!!!!
Everyone saying we all make mistakes, yes we do. 96 in a 70 is a mistake, but fleeing at 150 while turning out your lights is a choice, a horrible choice. Suspension without pay is warranted, and if found to be true termination.