English-language teacher busted for drunk in public

A Newport Harbor High School teacher is “apologetic” following his arrest for public drunkenness over the weekend, school officials said Tuesday.

Matthew Johnson, 36, of Dana Point, was arrested Friday night outside Javier’s on East Coast Highway after he had been removed from the restaurant due to being “drunk and belligerent,” Newport Beach Police spokesman Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

Officers approached Johnson in the parking lot and arrested him after confirming he was intoxicated, Sailor said.

Johnson, an English-language and journalism teacher, hasn’t been placed on administrative leave and met with the school’s principal, Michael Vossen, on Monday.

Vossen called Johnson an upstanding teacher and said no further action has been planned, but the district is still investigating.

Johnson is scheduled to appear in court July 28 at Harbor Justice Center.

— Daniel Tedford