POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Tuesday morning at a Lake Alfred school took a wild turn when a substitute teacher was arrested for drunk driving right in the parking lot. It happened on January 27, 2026, at Lake Alfred Polytech.
Around 10:30 in the morning, a deputy from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office was working on campus as a school resource officer. While in the parking lot, the deputy encountered 44-year-old Micah Alan Dyal, a substitute teacher from Haines City.
Things went downhill quickly for Dyal. When the deputy spoke with him, he noticed obvious signs that Dyal might be under the influence.
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According to the report, there was a strong smell of alcohol coming from his breath. The deputy performed a Field Sobriety Test, which Dyal failed. He was arrested on the spot and taken to the Sheriff’s Processing Center to face DUI charges. He later agreed to a blood test to check his alcohol levels.
“This substitute teacher was drunker than Cooter Brown at school while he was supposed to be teaching our children,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “We gave him an education when we took him to jail.”
Polk County Public Schools provided the following statement:
“We commend our school staff for noticing that something was off, and not allowing this individual to proceed to the classroom yesterday. What a terrible decision and unacceptable behavior from someone working on a campus. This person will no longer have any involvement with PCPS.”
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