BANGOR, Maine — The operating under the influence charge against Bangor High School Principal Paul Butler has been dropped and Butler will return from administrative leave on Oct. 18, Superintendent James Tager announced in a release Friday.
Butler, 50, was arrested and charged by the Bangor Police Department on Aug. 7 after police said he drove a pickup truck into a cement barricade on Bass Park Boulevard. In addition to OUI, he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident.
According to Tager, the OUI charge has been dropped and Butler pled guilty to a class E misdemeanor of failing to make an oral or written report of a property damage accident. In exchange for his guilty plea, another misdemeanor charge of driving to endanger was dismissed, and Butler paid a $750 fine, according to the Penobscot County District Attorney's Office.
Tager said the Bangor School Department conducted an independent investigation of the incident and did not find that Butler was driving under the influence. According to Tager, the investigation also found that Butler did not attempt to flee the scene.
“Because the evidence does not support a conclusion that Mr. Butler operated a motor vehicle under the influence or endangered the safety of others, I have determined that there is no basis for terminating Mr. Butler’s employment," Tager said in Friday's release. "I have discussed the results of the investigation with Mr. Butler, and have implemented measures to address his actions. Mr. Butler has admitted that he exercised poor judgment in connection with the incident, and he has demonstrated a commitment to addressing this going forward."
A spokesperson for the Bangor School Department provided NEWS CENTER Maine with the following statement from Butler on Friday:
"I am very thankful and of course relieved to have the chance to rebuild trust and confidence when I've given reason for those things to be questioned. That will be my goal moving forward, beginning with students and faculty next week. I am really grateful for the opportunity to see that through in a community that I love and in a school system that has been the center of my personal and professional life for nearly all of it."
Brian Doyle, one of Bangor High School's assistant principals, served as interim principal during Butler's absence.
