Stinson Beach man guilty of driving students while high

A Marin County man arrested for being under the influence of drugs while driving children on a school field trip was found guilty last week in Tuolumne County Superior Court after nine minutes of jury deliberation.

Albert Coles, 53, of Stinson Beach, was found guilty of driving under the influence of drugs and four counts of child endangerment, all misdemeanors, during a Bolinas-Stinson School trip to Mono Lake.
 

He was also originally booked on an infraction for driving with an open container and misdemeanor possession of one ounce or less of marijuana.

Deputy District Attorney Laura Leslie said she could have filed the child endangerment charges as felonies, but opted for misdemeanors because Coles had no previous criminal record.

On Sept. 17, sixth- and seventh-grade students from Bolinas-Stinson School were on their way to Mono Lake for a weekend biology camping trip, Leslie said.

Coles, who reported he is a financial adviser, had volunteered to drive and was carrying his own son plus three other children.

Two citizens called 911 about 6:45 p.m. after they saw him weaving and driving on the wrong side of Highway 108 between Oakdale and Sonora, Leslie said. She said Coles forced an oncoming school bus off the road.

The California Highway Patrol set up units at the Tuolumne County line, where one of the citizens still following Coles pointed his car out. Officers also witnessed his car straddling the double lanes.

CHP officers pulled him over and observed that he was showing signs of intoxication.

He was arrested, and the four children were turned over to Child Protective Services.

A blood sample later showed Coles was under the influence of cocaine, marijuana, Valium and other sleeping agents.

“Parents had entrusted their children’s safety to this man, and you assume that when you trust your child’s safety to someone for a school-related event, you wouldn’t have to worry about them having four substances in their system,” Leslie said.

He also had a coffee mug in the center console of the car with a combination of rum, Vermouth and ground up marijuana, Leslie said.

Coles called the drink the “Green Dragon” and said his doctor told him it would help him sleep, Leslie said.

No alcohol was found in Coles’ system, and he told Leslie that he had covered up the coffee mug with plastic wrap.

“I found it egregious that he even had it within reach of the children,” Leslie said.

Following a two-day trial that started June 1, the jury found Coles guilty on all four misdemeanor counts. Judge Doug Boyack also found him guilty of the open container infraction. 

The marijuana possession charge was dismissed after Coles produced a medical marijuana card, Leslie said.

Boyack sentenced Coles to a choice of either six months in jail, fines and Narcotics Anonymous drug treatment, or 60 days in jail plus 400 hours of community service, fines and drug treatment.

Coles chose the 60 days and community service.

His Sonora attorney, Mark Borden, was unavailable for comment.

Leslie believes justice was served in this case.

“I think he really put these four children’s lives in danger, as well as anyone else who was on the road that day,” she said.