Superior police captain cited for hit and run

• Capt. Chad La Lor

Capt. Chad La Lor

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A Superior police captain is facing discipline after a hit and run accident resulting in property damage.

Superior Police Chief Floyd Peters stated that Capt. Chad La Lor was off duty and driving his personal vehicle when he struck a pickup truck on North 28th Street near Spartan Drive around 2:25 a.m. Friday.

No one was injured in the accident that resulted in minor damage to both vehicles.

According to reports filed with the police department, John Tuura was driving the other vehicle involved in the accident, a truck owned by Murphy Oil. When Tuura turned right from an access road and headed east on North 28th Street, Tuura said he noticed La Lor’s vehicle at the street lights. When he looked east again, the vehicle was bearing down on him.

Reports state La Lor then drove his Mini Cooper up onto the median, striking the truck. Tuura reported the accident after returning to Murphy Oil.

La Lor did not stop at the scene or report the accident as is required of all motor vehicle operators.

La Lor, a 15-year veteran of the department, acknowledged later the same morning that he had been involved in the minor accident and did fully cooperate with the subsequent investigation. The choices I made leading up to the accident and immediately following the accident were poor choices, La Lor said in a prepared statement. “I apologize to the citizens of Superior and ask for their forgiveness as I now attempt to make amends for this accident, move on and return to the business of solving crime.

La Lor acknowledged consuming alcohol prior to the accident. Reports state Superior police officers had observed La Lor’s vehicle parked near a downtown bar until about 2 a.m.

After investigating the incident, Superior police cited La Lor for hit and run. La Lor admitted that he was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Capt. Matt Markon said two factors contributed to the crash — speed and La Lor’s consumption of alcohol prior to the crash.

Peters acknowledged that in addition to his own department’s investigation, he also requested the Wisconsin State Patrol fully review this incident and the manner in which it was handled by the department.

Now that the investigation has concluded, La Lor, who had been placed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of this investigation, was issued the citation by Peters. In addition, Peters confirmed that he would be taking additional departmental discipline and punitive sanctions against La Lor.

Peters declined to disclose the nature of the punitive sanctions, but did state the discipline agreement reached won’t require a hearing before the Police and Fire Commission or result in a demotion.

Tags: news, crime, superior, police