The Erie County Legislature is getting involved now in the incident with Erie County Sheriff’s Chief of Narcotics and Intelligence Daniel "DJ" Granville.
Investigative Post and WGRZ first reported about a series of late-night April 2024 car crashes where Granville, in a county-owned vehicle, hit seven parked cars in Buffalo. 911 calls at the time categorized it as a “hit and run.”
No criminal charges were laid, and according to those media reports, it’s unclear if he had taken a breathalyzer, or what actions the sheriff’s office had taken.
Erie County Legislature Chairman Tim Meyers said they were blindsided by this.
"This is the first that myself or the [Democratic] caucus that I lead had any knowledge of this at all. So I just want to make that perfectly clear," said Meyers. "I also want to state that we do not underestimate the seriousness of these allegations, and we're looking forward to getting some more information to find out what happened, who knew what, when they knew it, and go on from there."
The county paid out claims to those who’s vehicles were damaged in Granville’s incident, meaning taxpayers were on the hook for about $60,000.
Democratic members aren't the only ones calling for transparency of information. Republican County Legislator Lindsay Lorigo wants to look at all levels of government involved in this.
"It involves several layers of county of government where alarm bells should have went off," said Lorigo. "So the Buffalo Police Department issued a statement to the sheriff's office, an accident report, then it goes to the county attorney. The county attorney negotiated a settlement, then it was approved by the county executive. Then it goes to the comptroller, and the check goes out. We have a problem here that we need to address, and that's why this is so much deeper and bigger than at the surface level."
A bipartisan resolution was passed today, setting up a legislative investigation into the crashes. Lawmakers note the chair of the legislature does have subpoena powers.
