La. Deputy Fatally Struck while Deploying Spike Strip During Chase

A St. Tammany Parish sheriff's deputy who was killed in the line of duty early Sunday was identified by authorities as 37-year-old Sgt. Grant Candies, a nine-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office who also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Candies was killed shortly after midnight on Sunday morning as he was deploying a spike strip on Interstate 10 near the Oak Harbor exit in Slidell in an attempt to end a high-speed chase led by a 17-year-old driver, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. He was hit by the fleeing driver, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Spike strips are used to stop vehicles by puncturing holes in tires.

"Sgt. Candies was an asset to the department," St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith said in a prepared statement. "He was the kind of deputy every agency hopes to have and someone his teammates routinely reached out to for advice and direction due to his vast knowledge of this job."

Candies began working with the Sheriff's Office nearly a decade ago and was promoted to sergeant in 2023. That same year he was named STPSO deputy of the year.

He was married and had two children, according to the Sheriff's Office.

"While we grieve, we also honor and we remember a man who lived with purpose, who led with strength and who left behind a legacy that won't be forgotten," Smith said. "His laughter, his wisdom and his drive will carry on in the deputies he mentored, in the family he adored and in the community he gave his life to protect."

The fatal chase started on Brownswitch Road when a deputy attempted to stop a car and the driver sped off. The chase ended when the car crashed into a New Orleans Police Department unit on the south shore, Sheriff's Office officials said.

WWL-Louisiana reported that a New Orleans police officer who was also injured during the chase was taken to a hospital and later released. State Police were also involved in the chase, WWL reported.

Sheriff's Office officials said five people were riding in the fleeing car. The alleged driver, a 17-year-old from Slidell, was arrested and booked in New Orleans. He was later transferred to St. Tammany Parish and booked on counts of aggravated flight, first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

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