Florida man accused of wandering into classroom while drunk enters plea

Derek Marlowe faces charges after incident at Spruce Creek High School

Derek Marlowe, 51, was arrested Friday after riding his bike onto the Spruce Creek High School Campus and entering a classroom. (Image: VCSO)

PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A man accused of trespassing onto the Spruce Creek High School campus last month entered a plea of not guilty during an arraignment Tuesday.

Derek Marlowe faces charges of trespassing on school property, breach of peace and disrupting a school function.  Deputies said he was extremely intoxicated when he rode his bike on campus, meandered into a classroom and then took a seat at an open desk.

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Marlowe was taken into custody by the school resource officer, who was alerted by a school staff member.

After the security breach at the Port Orange school, Volusia County Superintendent Tim Egnor said the district would retrain all school principals on lockdown procedures and schedule new training for campus advisers. 

At Spruce Creek, plans were also made to move the guard house to the middle of the school entrance route to prevent someone from getting through. Marlowe rode his bike through the main entrance opposite the guard house.

During Tuesday's arraignment, Marlowe also pleaded not guilty to a charge that he violated conditions of pretrial release.

On October 5, Marlowe was arrested after a Port Orange police officer said he was found in possession of two cans of beer.

Marlowe was ordered to be held without bond. He's next scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Nov. 6.
 


About the Author

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.

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