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Sgt. Grant Candies was deploying the device used to disable
vehicles in the Slidell area when he was struck and killed on
Interstate 10, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a
news release.
The pursuit began when a deputy tried to stop a vehicle and the
driver fled at high speed, the sheriff's office said. The
pursuit ended when the fleeing vehicle with five people inside
crashed into a New Orleans Police officer’s vehicle in the east
part of the city, the statement added.
The police officer was injured as he entered the interstate to
join the pursuit, police said in a statement. It said the
officer and the occupants of the fleeing vehicle were taken to
the hospital. The officer has been released and the others were
in stable condition, police said.
Officials said the 17-year-old driver of the fleeing vehicle was
booked Sunday morning as a fugitive in New Orleans and then
transferred to nearby St. Tammany Parish, where he was charged
with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and
aggravated flight, the sheriff’s office said. Additional arrests
or charges are possible, officials said.
Candies, 37, was married with two children and started his
career with the sheriff’s office in 2016, the sheriff's office
said. In 2023, he was responsible for saving the lives of two
people and was named the deputy of the year. He also served as a
field training officer, helping to train new deputies on his
patrol shift.
“Sgt Candies was an asset to the department,” Sheriff Randy
Smith said in a statement. “He was the kind of deputy every
agency hopes to have and someone his teammates routinely reached
out to for advice and direction ... His path to law enforcement
was one of fate and devotion to his family, to his community and
to a calling greater than himself.”
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