https://mynews13.com/fl/orland...-charged-after-crash


TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Florida Highway Patrol has closed its criminal investigation into a rollover crash involving former Titusville Police Chief John Lau, who was fired after refusing a drug test following the crash in his city-owned vehicle.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RichardC,

Pulled him and a half empty bottle of Vodka out of the cruiser, refused to take a breathalyzer test nor blood test. Per his agreement that was an immediate termination so he's done in Titusville and probably will have some legal issues beyond losing his job....

What legal issues? The FHP closed the investigation and said the only potential further action would be traffic citations. Titusville fired him, are they going to sue him? I think he just gets fired and maybe doesn't get hired as a chief ever again.

Dumb ass should be decertified. Go work somewhere where you’re not gonna kill somebody.

"Welcome to Eslmart".

Maybe reimburse the city for its wrecked vehicle?

At least 12 to 15 states criminalize refusing a breathalyzer test. Because all 50 states have implied consent laws, refusing a test always triggers severe administrative penalties (like automatic license suspension), but only a subset of states elevate refusal to an independent criminal offense.States that explicitly criminalize breathalyzer refusal generally include:AlaskaArkansasCalifornia (under specific conditions)FloridaHawaiiKentuckyLouisianaMaineMinnesotaNebraskaNorth DakotaRhode IslandTennesseeVermontVirginiaUnder the Supreme Court ruling in Birchfield v. North Dakota, states can constitutionally criminalize refusing a breathalyzer test, but they cannot criminally penalize a driver for refusing a more invasive blood test without a warrant.

The article says the Trooper took an hour to get to the scene and Lau was at the hospital by then. So the Trooper never saw him under the influence. Since the FHP closed the investigation and there doesn't appear to be any charges, how could the insurance company sue? They'll just pay for the vehicle. If the insurance company pays, the agency can't sue either. It seems like the FHP blew off their responsibility since it was a single vehicle accident driven by a police chief. Also, since it was the Titusville Police that got to the scene first and it was outside their jurisdiction, so an FHP investigation, could his not taking a breathalyzer test by them be prosecuted?

"An hour to get to the scene"

That's a head scratcher, ain't it.

If there was no wheel witness, there's no DUI. If the responding agency arrived and the Chief wasn't behind the wheel and no one else can testify he was driving, they wouldn't be able to prosecute.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
"An hour to get to the scene"

That's a head scratcher, ain't it.

What is?

There are times that we have 1 trooper working in a 4 county area. And this is in a metroplex with over a million residents.

My agency's area has a major state highway and a major interstate running through it, and we commonly get asked to cover incidents outside our city limits on these highways because a trooper is unavailable.

So if something like this happened with my agency, where we couldn't work it ourselves and had to call in a trooper, it could easily be an hour for one to respond. (Calling in the county would be a lot faster.)

That's not some nefarious conspiracy between a local and state agency to cover for a disgraced chief's drunk driving by deliberately dragging their feet on the response... It's just the reality of law enforcement coverage in areas other than major cities.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
"An hour to get to the scene"

That's a head scratcher, ain't it.

What is?

I used to live in Merritt Island, so, I'm very familiar with the area. I have neither lived in, nor spent any appreciable amount of time anywhere else in the country with a denser LEO presence. You're not going anywhere without seeing local PD and Hillsborough County SD on your way. For it to take an hour for someone to respond to a crash in Titusville strikes me as fucking odd.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
That's not some nefarious conspiracy between a local and state agency to cover for a disgraced chief's drunk driving by deliberately dragging their feet on the response... It's just the reality of law enforcement coverage in areas other than major cities.

Between the tourism and NASA, the Space Coast isn't exactly an "area other than major cities," and it's patrolled and policed accordingly.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P220 Smudge,

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:



I used to live in Merritt Island, so, I'm very familiar with the area. I have neither lived in, nor spent any appreciable amount of time anywhere else in the country with a denser LEO presence. You're not going anywhere without seeing local PD and Hillsborough County SD on your way. For it to take an hour for someone to respond to a crash in Titusville strikes me as fucking odd.

Titusville (and Merritt Island) is(are) in Brevard County. Hillborough County is on the other side of the peninsula.

He had to spend quite a bit of road time IN titusville to get where he wrecked from where he was coming also the body cam of clean up officers is wild. They find his holstered weapon just laying on the ground. This is at very dark time of night as well.

The head scratcher is if it was Any Tom dick or Harry tax slave they’d be rung up on charges. Not allowed to resign.


We have a case here in Pensacola. Escambia county deputy working private security at the Flora Bama yet driving an unmarked patrol car plows over 2 kids at 3am. July 2025. Just last week under pressure and after the intrepid FHP took a year to do some simple math and physics calculations to decide he was doing 70 in a 45 they charged him with vehicle homicide and his shitbag attorney has done nothing but victim blame. Of course he was allowed to retire during this period.

Just last week another top brass Escambia SO was arrested by town police for multiple felonies including felony mischief stalking and harassing a witness her husband/ex husband and his new gal.

Of course they said hey we’re going to arrest you at the end of today the sherriff allows her to resign 7 hours before her arrest. Ostensibly to collect the pension Vs being summarily fired which would happen to every other normal person.

It just looks shitty and more field for the fire of a double justice system.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
Titusville (and Merritt Island) is(are) in Brevard County. Hillborough County is on the other side of the peninsula.

Brain fart, I lived in both places. I’m probably the only one here who spent a night in the Brevard County jail, so the qualifications and observations stand, sir.

Not to contradict Smudge, but FHP doesnt have the presence a lot of folks think they have. The local PDs and SDs are a different story, but FHP presence isnt that big.

I'm not surprised it took them an hour during the wee hours.

^^^^^^^^ Exacatly what El Toro posted.

Another fucking cover up. So the guy gets a pass when almost everyone else wouldn't.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
"An hour to get to the scene"

That's a head scratcher, ain't it.

There is no conspiracy here. This is a routine response time for FHP for 11pm. It is not uncommon to have 1 Trooper for a county or multi county area.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
^^^^^^^^ Exacatly what El Toro posted.

Another fucking cover up. So the guy gets a pass when almost everyone else wouldn't.

Respectfully, you are wrong. I have no relationship with the chief or the City, and have no info other than that which has been made public, but as a former cop and breath test operator with over 200 DUI arrests personally made, County Court Division Chief and DUI special prosecutor and a two decade police legal advisor, (all in Florida) nobody would be arrested on these facts, at least on the facts that have been made public. Even if an enterprising officer made the arrest, the State Attorney would never file on it.

No standardized field coordination exercises, transpo to hospital, with a reasonable (for FHP considering locale and time of night) response time, and no alcohol testing. What evidence is there other than “he’s a cop and they covered it up?” Having tried dozens of DUI cases as a prosecutor I am comfortable saying there is a zero chance of conviction.

If it was a “fucking cover up,” why did the Deputy Chief send a commander to the hospital to ask for a post crash drug/alcohol test pursuant to the City’s policy? Why did his own officers photograph the bottle of vodka and verify its contents as alcohol? Why did the City Manager fire him within 24 hours and publicly state it was for a violation of the City’s drug and alcohol policy? Why did the City proactively release its body camera footage? Seems like a piss poor cover up to me.

Also consider he lost probably a $150k year job and his name and this crash are all over the news which likely tanks his chances for getting reemployed as a chief. Hardly “getting off.” First time DUI offenders get a fine, short DL suspension, and so e community service hours. Even if he were to have been arrested, it would be plead to a reckless driving (which anyone with similar facts would get and the penalty would be even less. An objective review of the facts and penalties would lead a reasonable person to conclude he will pay a much higher price for his misconduct than “everyone else.”