RSSInstructor arrested after student is pulled over
Yakima Herald-Republic
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The owner of Yakima's oldest driving school faces a state investigation after he was arrested last week for arguing with a Yakima police officer during a traffic stop of one of his students.
Hours later, he was jailed on charges alleging he harassed employees at a towing yard where his training car was impounded.
John M. Larson, owner of A-1 School of Driving on Nob Hill Boulevard, is scheduled for arraignment today on the harassment charge in Yakima County Superior Court.
The state Department of Licensing began an investigation Friday after learning of the arrests from police, agency spokesman Brad Benfield said.
The incident could affect Larson's ability to be licensed as a driver's education instructor and school owner, Benfield said.
Benfield did not discuss possible outcomes for the investigation, but he said department staff will take a serious look at the allegations.
"In general, the agency puts a lot of weight on any misconduct, particularly when students are in the car," Benfield said, adding that officials could not recall any recent similar incidents across the state.
The sequence of events started Wednesday afternoon when a Yakima police officer stopped Larson's student at the intersection of 40th and Washington avenues for weaving well over both sides of the lane.
Police said Larson, 60, argued excessively with the officer, tried to grab the student's driver's license from the officer and stepped out of the vehicle at one point.
He was arrested on suspicion of obstructing police but released from the police station after getting a ticket.
A short time later, Larson went to Action Towing in Union Gap, where two employees told police that he became verbally aggressive while recovering his car. The employees reported that they believed he had a gun and intended to kill them.
Larson denies the charges.
He called the arrests "unjust" and suggested he was being targeted by police because one of his competitors is retired Yakima police sergeant Mike Amos, who owns a driving school.
Yakima police said Amos' business or department connections had nothing to do with the traffic stop. The officer who made the stop does not work for Amos.
The officer spotted the car traveling well over both the center and outside lines of the lane and wanted to make sure everything was all right with the driver, Sgt. Tim Bardwell said.
She intended only to warn the driver, but Larson become extremely confrontational and tried to grab the student's driver's license from the officer's hand, Bardwell said. He also stepped partway out of the car.
Larson said it was the first time one of his students had been stopped by police in his 27 years as an instructor. He has operated the A-1 school since 1996; before that, he taught driver's ed for several Yakima Valley schools.
Bardwell said officers usually give wide latitude to student drivers, but this case warranted a warning because of the driver's significant weaving across the road.
Amos and Larson first crossed paths last summer.
Amos had recently retired from the police department and started his 911 Driving School, which uses off-duty police officers as instructors.
He sought an anti-harassment order against Larson after two of Larson's instructors approached two of Amos' instructors while they were on training drives at the old Montgomery Ward lot on Nob Hill Boulevard. Larson has his office in the business complex that sits on the same property.
A judge denied the request for a permanent anti-harassment order after Amos learned that Larson was not directly involved in this incidents.
Amos disputed the idea that he would want to drive out Larson.
"There's plenty of business for everybody," Amos said.
Larson's driving school is the oldest of four currently licensed in Yakima County. No other complaints have been filed against him with the state Department of Licensing.
He said he has taught close to 7,000 students in his 12 years as a commercial instructor, not counting his previous time in local high schools.
He said he's earned praise from parents for his teaching style, with up to five students from the same families.
"The whole family goes to our school," he said.
* Mark Morey can be reached at 577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.
