LAUSD Teacher in RHE Police Chase Charged

A Los Angeles Unified School District teacher accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl and leading police on a chase from Lakewood to Rolling Hills Estates, where he drove over a steep embankment and crashed into a tree, was charged last week with committing lewd acts on a child and felony evading.

Previously:

Kip Richard Arnold, 51, remains hospitalized and will not be arraigned until he is discharged, according to the District Attorney's Office.

According to prosecutors, Arnold had a sexual relationship with the then- 14-year-old girl between June and September 2005. The girl, now an adult, recently notified authorities, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Arnold was most recently a physical education teacher at Southeast Middle School. LAUSD officials said he has worked for the district for eight years, previously teaching at Nimitz Middle School, Gage Middle School and Orchard Academies.

He was charged with three counts of lewd act on a child who was 14, two counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object and one count of evading an officer.

Arnold was under surveillance by Bell police at his Lakewood home in response to the woman's allegations last week. According to police, he walked out of his home, saw the officers and told them "Hey, I know why you're hear. I'm going to commit suicide."

Arnold drove off, leading police on a high-speed chase through Torrance and onto Crenshaw Boulevard in Rolling Hills Estates, where he swerved his pickup truck off the road and soared over an embankment, slamming into the base of a tree.

He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, according to the District Attorney's Office.