Officer accused of killing his Oklahoma police chief in Florida

small-town Oklahoma policeman was charged with killing his chief after what authorities described as an alcohol-fueled brawl in a Florida Panhandle hotel room.

The two men had been staying at the Hilton on Pensacola Beach over the weekend for a law-enforcement conference, said Escambia County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Amber Southard.

Early Sunday evening, hotel security was called because the two men were being disruptive, Southard said. Later that evening, hotel staff called the sheriff’s department because the men were fighting.

“An actual physical altercation,” she said.

When deputies arrived, they found Chief Lucky Miller dead, she said, and there was no weapon. She added that alcohol was involved and that an autopsy is underway.

A person who answered the phone at a number assoA ciated with Miller declined to comment and asked that The Associated Press not call again.

Michael Patrick Nealey, 49, was arrested Monday morning and charged with killing Miller, according to records.

Miller was the police chief in Mannford, Oklahoma, a small town about 20 miles west of Tulsa. It has a population of about 3,200.

Nealey was being held without bond at the Escambia County Jail. He’s charged with homicide. A lawyer for Nealey wasn’t listed on jail records, and no additional details were immediately available.

Miller, 44, had been police chief since 2007. He and his wife had three children.

“We are heartbroken by the news,” Mayor Tyler Buttram said in the statement. “Please keep both families in your prayers as we work to move forward.”

Mayor Buttram said the two men were “the best of friends” and told The Associated Press that he can’t fathom what happened in Florida.

“That’s what makes everything so hard. We can’t even wrap our heads around this,” he said. “The city’s just stunned. The police department’s stunned. Nothing makes sense, nothing adds up.”