Police say the Winter Park High School employee drove away after a December collision that left a teen with a broken back.
CASSELBERRY, Fla. — A Winter Park High School teacher was arrested this week after police said he struck a teenage student riding a scooter in December and drove off without stopping, leaving the boy with a broken back as he was headed to school.
Benjamin Hendricks Fottler, 49, faces a charge tied to leaving the scene of a crash without rendering aid after a collision that investigators say happened Dec. 11 near Casselton Drive and State Road 436. The arrest brought new attention to a case that had lingered for months while the injured student, Landon Cates, recovered at home and his family pushed for accountability. The case also drew a response from Orange County Public Schools, which confirmed Fottler works at Winter Park High School and said the crash did not happen on the job.
Police said the case first came in on Dec. 11 when the victim’s mother reported that her son had been hit and had suffered a serious back injury. Later that same day, investigators said, Fottler also contacted police and reported that he may have struck a pole earlier that morning. In the arrest affidavit, police said officers began to suspect the two reports were connected. Investigators later met with Fottler on Dec. 12, when he said he had been making a left turn near Casselton Drive and State Road 436 on his way to work and hit what he believed was a traffic sign in the center median. He told police the impact damaged the passenger-side mirror of his vehicle. Fottler also said his child was in the back seat and that he did not stop to check what he had struck before continuing on to day care and then work.
Police said the person hit in the crash was Landon Cates, who was 15 at the time and is now 16. News reports said he was riding an electric scooter to school when he was struck. Cates later described months of pain and limited movement. “He did hit me. I assumed he noticed and sped away,” Cates said in one television interview. In another, he described how the injury changed basic parts of his life, saying he could no longer run, bend or twist the way he once could. His mother, Callista Cates, said the family wanted the case pursued and has remained worried about both the physical and emotional toll. Authorities have said the teen suffered great bodily harm. Reports from local stations also said he has worn a back brace and may still need surgery, though that decision had not been made public as of March 13.
The case widened beyond the crash scene because both the driver and the injured teen were tied to the same school community. Orange County Public Schools confirmed that Fottler is a teacher at Winter Park High School. The district told local news outlets that he remained employed because the incident was unrelated to school duties. That answer did little to ease the concerns of Cates’ family. His mother said she had contacted the school repeatedly to explain why her son had not been attending and why the case felt so personal. She also said the family later moved from the neighborhood because living near both the crash site and Fottler had become too painful. Those details turned the story from a traffic investigation into a broader community issue, with parents and neighbors telling local TV stations they were alarmed that a teacher accused in such a serious hit-and-run remained on campus while the student recovered.
Investigators said the charging process was not immediate. One report, citing police records, said Fottler was initially cited in error. Another said the State Attorney’s Office later determined the seriousness of the injuries meant an arrest warrant should have been sought right away. By March, police moved forward with the case. Local reports said Fottler was arrested at his residence on a warrant and later taken to the John E. Polk Correctional Facility. Court and station reports said he was released on a $20,000 bond. Television crews who later went to his home reported that he declined to speak publicly, saying he had been advised not to talk to the media. No public court hearing date was included in the reports reviewed for this story, and it was not clear by Friday whether Fottler had entered a plea or retained defense counsel in the criminal case.
The crash has left a long trail of emotion as well as legal questions. Parents interviewed near the school said they were disturbed by the allegations. One parent told local television that a teacher should be protecting children, not facing accusations tied to a student’s injuries. Cates, meanwhile, spoke in plain terms about what the crash took from him. He said schoolwork had become harder, pain lingered and simple movements could trigger shaking in his arms. In one interview, he said he had hoped to split his time between school and trade classes, a plan the injury disrupted. His remarks gave the case a human center that went beyond the affidavit. What began as a report of a possible hit-and-run on a Central Florida road is now a criminal case, a school community issue and an unresolved recovery story for one teenager.
As of Friday, Fottler had been arrested and released on bond, and Cates was still dealing with the aftermath of the December crash. The next major milestone is expected to come in court as the felony case moves forward in Seminole County.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.