SLIDELL, La. (WVUE/Gray News) – Two more 17-year-olds are facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the death of a Louisiana law enforcement officer who was fatally struck during a vehicle pursuit.
Sgt. Grant Candies was identified as the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy who was struck and killed by a fleeing suspect while attempting to deploy spike strips early Sunday morning, the agency said.
The sheriff’s office announced on Monday the additional arrests of Mason Paul Eugene Fischer and Michael Emanual Lanier, both of Slidell.
They were both being booked into an area detention center on charges that include first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
The sheriff’s office previously identified the driver of the vehicle as 17-year-old Adrian Waughtal. He was booked for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated flight from an officer.
Candies, 37, was a nine-year veteran of the sheriff’s office and a former U.S. Marine. He was named Deputy of the Year in 2023 and was the son of a longtime St. Charles Parish deputy. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Sheriff Randy Smith said the car was driving recklessly without a tag displayed.
Candies was assisting with the pursuit on Interstate 10 near the Oak Harbor exit in Slidell when he was hit by the fleeing vehicle. Authorities say the vehicle that was being pursued by law enforcement was driven by Waughtal.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said the pursuit began on Brownswitch Road when a deputy attempted to stop a vehicle. Instead, it “fled at a high rate of speed.”
“He was going at least 85, 90 mph,” one witness recalled. “He kept swerving. I was like, ‘What is going on?’”
Smith called Candies “an asset to the department” and “the kind of deputy every agency hopes to have.”
“I ask our community to please pray for Sgt. Candies’ family as well as his blue family, his coworkers and other members of law enforcement,” Smith said. “Sgt. Candies’ death reiterates the dangers our deputies face every day when they put on their badge.
The agency said the investigation is in its early stages, and that additional arrests and criminal charges are possible.
At this time, there is no word about what started the chase.
WVUE legal analyst Joe Raspanti said it is possible to charge passengers for the actions of a driver, but the case will likely revolve around intent.
“It’s going to be fact based. The proof is going to be what their intent was, what did they know, how did they contribute to it. So, it’s a harder case to prove against the passengers by a lot than it is against the driver,” Raspanti said.
Smith said there was intent to hit Candies.
Copyright 2025 WVUE via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.