A Boise man is accused of stealing from a Wal-Mart in the city.
John O’Neal, 33, is a GOP hopeful and a Meridian school teacher.
He appeared in court Tuesday afternoon on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor theft.
He bonded out hours later.
Wal-Mart employees told police they saw John O'Neal walk out of their store Sunday with merchandise he did not pay for.
Officers arrested him there: they say he took several video games and a NERF toy gun.
O'Neal teaches fifth grade at Chief Joseph Elementary for the Meridian School District.
The district says after the winter break, he'll likely be placed on administrative leave- it's protocol.
The district will also watch what happens in court.
"That's why we have a code of ethics- that's the standard that teachers are supposed to live up to, so anytime someone is potentially in violation of that we're going to find out what's going on and take appropriate steps," said Eric Exline, spokesman of the Meridian School District.
O'Neal has been placed on leave before.
Back in April, the district investigated a claim that he inappropriately disciplined a student for not following instructions to get off the field.
Parents say the boy told O'Neal to shut up and cussed at him.
O'Neal allegedly scolded the boy by holding both of the child's arms.
Parents rallied behind the teacher.
"Anything that we can do to show that we support Mr. O'Neal and support him, we're going to do," parent Lona Furstenau told KTVB in May.
The district completed it's investigation and allowed O'Neal to return.
No criminal charges were ever filed.
But now that he is facing charges for the alleged theft, it could put a dent his political aspirations.
O'Neal recently announced on a web site he's running as a Republican for a state senate seat.
On it, O'Neal says he will “lead this State and District with Fine Tuned Conservative specks."
However, the Idaho Republican Party never recruited him.
"I have approached a few people about running in that district, and John wasn't not one of them. He essentially came to us, seemed like a nice guy," Jonathan Parker, Executive Director of the Idaho Republican Party said.
We spoke with John O'Neal's wife, Amy.
The couple is devastated and this is all a misunderstanding.
She says O'Neal was walking toward the parking lot to get his wallet from his wife, and he had stopped in the area where the shopping carts were located inside the Wal-Mart store.
That's when employees saw the video games and toy in his hand, and called police.
She says her husband does not want to talk to us before he approves it through his attorney.
O'Neal is seeking the 19th district senate seat. It's currently held by Democrat Nicole LeFavour.
He's back in court for a preliminary hearing in January.
