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FARGO — A true servant to his community, state and country, many are mourning the loss of a small town police chief who was killed in an off-duty motorcycle accident .
Brandon Sola was just sworn-in as police chief in Carrington, North Dakota in November, but in those seven months he made a huge difference in the community of 2,000 residents.
His vest hung Thursday, June 30, inside the police station. It has been a tough sight for the five-member department.
"There's an emptiness (...) when we walk in the building and he's not in his office," said Carrington Police Department patrol officer Liz Kapp.
He was a chief these officers had just gotten to know, but one they were looking forward to working for for years to come.
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"He listened to all of us. He listened to everything that we had to say, he took all of our input. He was a team leader, he showed what it meant to be a team leader. He just had a heart for all of us," said Carrington police Sergeant Chris Ormiston.
The husband and father of five was killed Tuesday night in a motorcycle crash on Interstate 94, just outside West Fargo. The North Dakota Highway Patrol says he was thrown from his bike after it started to wobble, for unknown reasons.
The 36-year-old had just picked it up from a repair shop and was taking it for a ride with his brother. He was in town for training. Sola was a Master Sergeant with the Happy Hooligans based out of Fargo.
"The reality is setting in that he's not coming back," said Ormiston.
Mayor Tom Erdmann says Chief Sola was an easy pick for police chief, sticking out from a handful of other candidates. Sola spent six years with the North Dakota Highway Patrol and brought with him a lot of energy and ideas for the future. Big dollar ideas that he easily sold to the city council, such as spending $60,000 to upgrade outdated radios and adding body cameras.
"The first time he come to the council meeting we might have rolled our eyes a little bit, and say, well we need this and this, and this, and we started racking up the dollars," Erdmann said. "But the council got behind him and supported him, and appreciated his leadership."
Another top priority for the chief was the safety of his officers on the street, and sharing his martial arts training.
"The first thing he did was go through some handcuffing techniques to improve from videos that he watched on our traffic stops. And he also assisted us in training us with physical defense moves to protect us and keep us safe on the street," Kapp said.
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His fellow officers say the loss of Chief Sola is a loss that will take a community to heal.
"This is a big loss. I don't think Carrington has ever had a loss like this," said Ormiston.
Funeral arrangements for Chief Sola are still pending.
A GoFundMe site has been setup for funeral costs and a memorial.
