Crime and Court Roundup: Former Superior police captain not charged

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SUPERIOR - No criminal charges will be filed against a former police captain in Superior who was suspected of committing perjury.

Douglas County District Attorney Dan Blank said yesterday that a charge against former Captain Chad La Lor would be hard to prove. Authorities investigated allegations that La Lor lied during a Police-and-Fire Commission hearing last November about the misconduct of another officer. The captain was asked about a hit-and-run crash in 2009. La Lor admitted being drunk when he struck another vehicle, and said there were no previous incidents in which he drove drunk. Superior Police Chief Charles LaGesse put the captain on leave in January and had Washburn County’s sheriff investigate. And Terry Dryden said he could not find evidence that La Lor committed perjury or any other crime during his testimony. The Douglas County DA then named Bayfield County’s DA Craig Haukaas as a special prosecutor. Haukaas said the investigation uncovered issues that caused alarm, but he agreed it would be “difficult at best” to support a perjury charge against La Lor. The captain resigned March 20th, saying his work environment became quote, “untenable.” Yesterday, he said the investigation came to the same conclusion as he did in January – that he never committed perjury.

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The trial of a La Crosse County man accused of killing his parents to get their money has been delayed for a fourth time. Eric Koula’s trial was supposed to begin next Wednesday – but it’s been moved up to June fourth. The defense wants to get a close look at fingerprints on a letter Koula received the week after his parents died. The message only read, “Fixed U.” Prosecutors said the 42-year-old Koula sent the letter himself – but the defense says a further examination might show that somebody else sent it. Koula, of West Salem, is accused of killing his 68-year-old father Dennis and 65-year-old wife Myrna at their home in the La Crosse County town of Barre in May of 2010. Eric is charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and with forgery for allegedly depositing a 50-thousand-dollar check from his father’s investment account the day after the slayings. Officials said Koula, a day-trader, was deep in debt at the time.

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Police near Green Bay expect a 16-year-old boy to be charged as an adult, after an officer caught him with 16-thousand-dollars in high-quality marijuana and 16-hundred dollars in cash. Ashwaubenon Police said the teen was driving a Mercedes-Benz when he was stopped south of Lambeau Field this week for not obeying a traffic sign in a construction area. The officer reported smelling marijuana from the car and called for help. When another officer arrived, officials said the teen driver ran off and was caught a block away. An 18-year-old passenger in the Mercedes stayed put, and is facing a possible charge of possession with the intent to deliver. The car was owned by a 22-year-old Green Bay woman. It was seized as evidence, but the owner is not facing charges. Police said the 16-year-old driver was also cited for driving with a revoked license as the result of a previous OWI conviction. Ashwaubenon Public Safety Lieutenant Jody Crocker said his department would seek juvenile drug charges against the teen – but he expects prosecutors to file adult charges. In Crocker’s words, “He’s conducting himself in an adult manner, in an adult-organized crime business.”

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A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to six months in prison for hiding some of Sue Sachdeva’s property, so it couldn’t be sold in a government auction. Sachdeva is the former Milwaukee business executive who’s serving 11 years in prison for embezzling 34-million dollars from the Koss Corporation. The firm received proceeds from last year’s auction to get back some of what it lost. Adam Burback pleaded guilty to hiding items which included art works, jewelry, and women’s shoes. Those items were seized from his home – as well as an expensive designer mirror and a gold Buddah statue. Burback entered into a plea deal which ordered him to return those items – and everything he received directly or indirectly from Sachdeva.

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