Suicidal teacher Kip Arnold accused of lewd acts with child takes cops on wild car chase

A Los Angeles middle school teacher suspected of committing lewd acts with a child led police on a wild car chase Tuesday that ended in his vehicle flying off the road and smashing into a tree.

Kip Aold, a physical education teacher at Southeast Middle School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, had been under surveillance by police in the town of Bell, Calif., leading up to his confrontation with authorities, The Associated Press reported. They planned to arrest him when Aold took off in a black pickup truck.

The police chased after him in a patrol car and were able to stop him once, bumping his truck from behind with their vehicle, forcing him into the side of a big rig.

At that point, there was reportedly a brief exchange in which Aold told police he wanted to kill himself. He then sped away again.

"He said, I'm not stopping, I'm suicidal,' put the car in gear and drove off," Lt. Ty Henshaw told the Los Angeles Times.

The dramatic chase ended when Aold seemingly lost control of his car, which then careened through a fence and became airboe before crashing into a thicket of trees below.

via Huffington Post

Aold appeared to lose control of his vehicle, police said.

Aold was trapped in the truck for roughly an hour before he was removed by firefighters, CBS2 reported, and taken to the hospital on a stretcher.

In a statement, the LAUSD said it had been “notified” of Aold’s arrest “on suspicion of lewd behavior with a former student and possibly additional victims” and was “cooperating with the ongoing investigation.”

Police began investigating Aold after a young girl came forward and filed a complaint against him last week, according to CBS2.

Officials said Aold had been an employee of the District for eight years and taught at three or more other schools.