A high school teacher in California is suspected of kidnapping three students and threatening them with a knife, ABC 7 reports.
Police arrested John Edward Maust, 34, in Altadena, Calif., on Sunday, on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment and criminal threats. Maust is accused of abducting the teens on Saturday night after asking them for a ride.
Authorities say the students, all 17, had been driving in Altadena when they spotted Maust -- a teacher at their school -- standing on the sidewalk. NBC Los Angeles reports that Maust may have been intoxicated at the time.
When the students pulled over to greet their teacher, Maust asked for a lift. The teens agreed but soon became alarmed by his behavior and stopped the car.
"After the juveniles exited the car, the teacher said he wanted to go to Jack in the Box, and ordered the juveniles back into the car," sheriff’s officials said, per NBC.
Fearing for their safety, the students are said to have reluctantly returned to the vehicle. Maust is accused of then pulling a knife on them.
One of the teens managed to call the police during the harrowing drive, ABC 7 reports, and Maust fled the car on foot after seeing a sheriff's helicopter flying overhead.
He surrendered at the Altadena Sheriff’s Station on Sunday, where he was arrested without incident.
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