ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A New Mexico teacher was arrested at a balloon festival over the weekend after he allegedly refused to cooperate with police and grazed an officer directing traffic with his vehicle.

Rio Rancho substitute teacher Earl Schwers allegedly ignored Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies working at Balloon Fiesta Park Saturday as they directed him to turn around on I-25. Schwers was among spectators caught in a massive traffic jam at the annual festival, a decades-long tradition in which tens of thousands come out to watch a mass ascension of hot air balloons, KRQE News reports.

Instead of following direction, Schwers “drove straight and his front bumper hit a deputy as officers yelled for him to stop. Another deputy had to jump out of the way, according to the complaint” cited by the news station.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

Police eventually caught up with Schwers at nearby Sandia Casino, where he was cited for aggravated assault on a peace officer.

KRQE reports “tempers flared” as thousands waited hours in gridlock traffic to get into and out of the Albuquerque park, many of which were turned away when it filled to capacity.

“We were literally full,” police spokesman Simon Drobik said. “There were no parking spots left.”

A road project on I-25 only made matters worse, officials said.

“We’re going to look at (Balloon Fiesta) and see if we can do things better next year,” Drobik told KRQE.

Many readers sounded off on the teacher’s behavior, while others blamed local police for causing more confusion than necessary.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

“I don’t blame the teacher at all! I blame arrogant, jerk cops who clearly based on their own driving do nothing to enforce traffic law or improve bad situations,” Jorgitos posted.

“He was lucky the officers didn’t fear for their lives and shoot him full of holes through the back window as he was driving away,” Overwatch wrote.

Commenter Katie clearly sympathized with Schwers.

“We just returned from our first trip to your Balloon Fiesta. The traffic on Saturday night was horrific. We sat for over two hours in our rental car with no movement. When we finally made it out, we must have passed 8-10 APD officers doing absolutely nothing. Oh, wait, one was eating a hotdog,” she wrote.

“Approximately two were directing traffic, if you call waving your arm in a circle directing?!? We are from out of state and were completely floored by the ineptitude displayed by the police department.”

Uamoron believed that regardless of traffic conditions, the teacher should have obeyed the law.

“This man lacks the ability to control his frustration in a car, I can only imagine his behavior in a classroom,” Uamoron posted.