Bangor High School Principal Charged with Drunken Driving, Placed on Leave

The principal of Bangor High School has been placed on administrative leave after an incident Saturday night that ended with an OUI charge.

Paul Butler, 50, was placed on administrative leave following an incident at Bass Park, Bangor Superintendent James Tager announced on Monday. The school department will hire someone to work in his place while the school also conducts an investigation into the incident.

According to the Bangor Police, the incident happened at approximately 10:20 PM Saturday. A Bangor police officer assigned to work at the Bangor State Fair noticed a pickup truck collide with a cement barrier. The driver then left Bass Park. An alert was put out and another officer spotted the pickup and pulled Butler over.

Officials say Butler allegedly smelled of intoxicants and so the officer put him through field sobriety testing. Butler was placed under arrest and taken to the Bangor Police station, where he was given a breath test. The results of that test were not made public, but Butler was issued a summons for operating under the influence and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.

The legal blood alcohol content limit for drunk driving in Maine is .08 percent.

Butler has been principal of Bangor High School since 2011.