Kevin Callahan has been Ridgefield’s football coach since 1999. (Jason Rearick/News-Times)
UPDATE (2:45 p.m.): Callahan has been placed on leave pending a review by the school district, according to Superintendent Deborah Low.
“The charges are concerning because Mr. Callahan is an educator and role model for Ridgefield High School students,” Low wrote in a statement. “Mr. Callahan has worked in Ridgefield for 16 years and currently is Senior Teacher of the Physical Education Department, Dean of Students and Coach. Mr. Callahan is recognized as a valued member of the RHS faculty.”
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Ridgefield football coach Kevin Callahan was arrested Sunday night for driving under the influence in Fairfield, according to police. To read the Fairfield Citizen’s report on the accident, click here.
The 52-year-old, who is a Fairfield resident, hit a traffic sign in the center of the road after passing through an intersection, police said, and then kept going and hit a tree on the side of the road.
Callahan, who is a physical education teacher at Ridgefield High and a dean, told police he was looking at an incoming text at the time of the accident, according to the police report. A strong odor of alcohol was detected by police, who then found a half-empty bottle of vodka in the car.
Because of his elevated blood pressure, Callahan was taken to a hospital, but he refused to have his blood drawn or toxicology tests run, police said.
Callahan was also charged with distracted driving, failure to drive right and failure to carry a valid insurance card. He was released on a promise to appear at state Superior Court in Bridgeport on May 18.
Calls to the Ridgefield superintendent’s office were not immediately returned.
Callahan has been a phys ed teacher and football coach at Ridgefield since 1999, according to his bio on the football team’s website.