A Montgomery County Public Schools high school teacher has been placed on leave following his arrest stemming from his involvement in a fatal car crash in North Carolina on Friday, according to district officials.
Nicholas Saadipour, 34, an English teacher at Quince Orchard High School on Gaithersburg, was driving a 2016 Honda Civic when he crashed into a guardrail on Interstate 95, according to North Carolina State Police information obtained by RRSpin.com. Officers reported the North Bethesda resident managed to get his car back on Interstate 95, but it appeared the driver of a 2001 Ford Explorer was forced to swerve around the Honda, causing his vehicle to overturn. The driver, identified as 59-year-old Sandy Griffin of Brooklyn, New York, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Saadipour was charged with driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane control, driving with an open container, careless and reckless driving and felony death by motor vehicle . He was hospitalized after the incident , according to RRSpin.com. No further information on his status is available at this time.
Quince Orchard Principal Elizabeth L. Thomas sent a letter to students, staff and families regarding the incident and the school’s decision about his employment.
“Police have indicated Mr. Saadipour may have significant responsibility in the accident,” Thomas said. “He will be on leave while he addresses this serious matter.”
Saadipour failed to appear at a court date on Tuesday in Montgomery County District Court regarding a Sept. 25 traffic violation for a failure to obey properly placed traffic control device instructions.
He appeared in court twice for a pair of March 2016 incidents also involving traffic violations. On March 3, 2016, he was charged with driving while impaired by alcohol and negligently driving a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner that endangers property, life and person on Rockville Pike. Less than two weeks later, he was charged March 12 with the same negligent driving violation for an incident on the Beltway.
Saadipour appeared in Montgomery County District Court on July 22, 2016, for the March 3 charges where he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by alcohol and in Prince George’s County District Court on May 5, 2016, for the March 12 charge where he pleaded guilty to the negligent driving charge.
