No 'indicators of impairment' seen by trooper after Brevard crash involving police chief, FHP says

The city of Titusville said its now-former police chief John Lau was terminated earlier this week after refusing an alcohol test requested by its police department, per city personnel policy. Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors said the crash happened outside of the city's jurisdiction and was handled by the Florida Highway Patrol. He said the city became involved largely because it happened in a city-owned vehicle. Body-camera footage released by Titusville police shows officers photographing a partially full bottle of vodka that was allegedly found inside the city-issued vehicle Lau was driving when the crash occurred Tuesday night. The city said Lau was terminated after refusing an alcohol test requested by Titusville police as part of the city's personnel policy. Mayor Connors said no further action can be taken by Titusville. "This happened outside of our city limits, not our jurisdiction. That’s up to the Florida Highway Patrol to decide what they want to do," Connors said.The Florida Highway Patrol has not yet released the crash report, but acknowledged that a trooper noted the presence of alcohol in the vehicle. FHP said alcohol being in the car was not enough to continue a DUI investigation. "The Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene of a single-vehicle crash, conducted a thorough investigation, and throughout that investigation did not observe indicators of impairment," FHP said. Because no signs of impairment were observed, FHP said it did not request an alcohol test. In the report from Titusville police, an officer noted a "slight smell" resembling alcohol coming from Lau before he was taken to the hospital. The officer also observed Lau had "bloodshot eyes" and was slurring his speech, but did not know what to attribute the slurring to. FHP said its trooper did not arrive at the scene until after Lau had left for the hospital. The crash occurred around 11:17 p.m., and FHP said it received the call at 11:30 p.m. A trooper arrived at the scene at 12:30 a.m. and left at 1:26 a.m. to visit Lau at the hospital, more than two hours after the crash. A criminal defense attorney said the lack of signs of impairment can complicate possible DUI cases. "There can be issues with that," Chris Carson said. The people involved could have impacted how the case was handled, he said. "Are they cutting him a break because he is a law enforcement officer, or is this a thing where they truly can’t prove a DUI? The devil is in the details, and obviously, we don’t have all of those. But frankly, I could see a situation where either of those is the case in this particular situation," Carson said. The Titusville police report also noted that an officer did not witness the trooper taking pictures of the alcohol. FHP said it typically only takes photos at crash scenes involving fatalities or serious bodily injuries.