TITUSVILLE, FL — Titusville police officers responding to a crash Tuesday night found Police Chief John Lau in the front seat of a city-owned SUV with a large bottle of vodka, according to details in a police case report and body-camera footage reported by WPBF 25 News.
An officer asked whether the bottle was open or closed. Lau replied that it had been drank out of, according to the exchange captured at the scene. Lau was accused of crashing the vehicle while off duty, and he was later released from the hospital before being fired from his position as chief.
Officers said they smelled alcohol and Lau refused testing
A sergeant wrote in the case report that he could immediately smell alcohol on Lau. The police chief refused alcohol testing, according to the account from the responding officers.
The crash and what led up to it were not fully explained in the information released publicly. The key details in the immediate response centered on Lau’s condition, the vodka bottle, and the officers’ decision to document the encounter as part of their investigation.
The city SUV and hospital visit became central to the case
Lau was in a city-owned SUV when officers found him at the crash scene. The vehicle detail added to the seriousness of the response because the chief was not only involved in the crash but was also associated with a city asset.
After he was taken to the hospital and later released, the department moved quickly to remove him from the job. The firing came after the crash response had already raised questions about alcohol use, the condition of the vehicle, and Lau’s role as the top law enforcement official in Titusville.
Florida Highway Patrol took over the investigation
The Florida Highway Patrol assumed control of the investigation after the crash response in Titusville. That shift moved the matter away from the local department and into state hands.
Investigators determined that no criminal charges would be filed, although the reason for that decision was not made clear in the information released. The unanswered question leaves the public record focused more on the administrative fallout for Lau than on any court case.
WPBF video and police records shaped the public account
Much of what is known about the encounter comes from police records and video reported by WPBF 25 News. The footage included the moment an officer asked about the vodka bottle and Lau acknowledged it had been drank out of.
That combination of recorded dialogue and written reporting gave the incident a clear timeline: officers arrived, found Lau in the SUV, noted the odor of alcohol, and documented his refusal to submit to testing. The department then fired him after he left the hospital.
Questions remain about what led to the crash
Officials have not publicly explained why the state investigation ended without charges or what exactly caused the crash. Those gaps leave the main facts centered on the response at the scene, Lau’s apparent intoxication concerns, and his removal from office.
For Titusville, the episode placed the city’s police department under an unusual spotlight because the chief himself was the subject of the crash response. The investigation is over, but the incident will likely remain a notable chapter in the department’s recent history.
