BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Erie County legislators are calling for a new investigation into the Erie County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Narcotics, DJ Granville, asking Governor Kathy Hochul to authorize an Attorney General investigation.
In August, Granville pleaded guilty to Reckless Driving and Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Only Accident after he crashed into seven parked cars on Buffalo's West Side in April 2024. He was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and nearly $700 in fines.
Allegations of the crashes surfaced following a lawsuit that was filed last year. That lawsuit claimed Granville was driving on Buffalo's west side negligently, recklessly, and carelessly in his county-owned vehicle before losing control and crashing into several parked cars on Prospect Avenue.
WATCH: Video appears to show ECSO chief Granville hit parked cars
Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman, who was appointed special prosecutor, said during his active investigation, he found Buffalo police officers did not administer a field sobriety test or provide a breathalyzer, body camera footage is missing, and responding officers did not cooperate with his investigation.
After pleading guilty to the charges, Granville was suspended for 30 working days without pay as punishment. Sheriff John Garcia announced the disciplinary action in a statement and said his office concluded its internal investigation into the incident.
WATCH: ECSO Chief Granville suspended 30 working days as punishment following internal investigation
For the Erie County legislature’s majority caucus, there are still many unanswered questions they would like to see investigated.
“We are sending a letter to the governor, asking her to give authority to [Attorney General Letitia James] to investigate this whole incident and anybody who touched this incident,” Chair of the Erie County Legislature Tim Meyers said.
“I look at this as we’re just joining the chorus of people asking the Attorney General to investigate,” Erie County Legislator Jeanne Vinal said.
“I think it has a little more teeth coming from us as a group, as a county legislature, asking the governor for this,” Erie County Legislator John Bargnesi said. “We’re not here pointing fingers, that’s not the point, it’s about restoring public trust.”
The county representatives say they have the authority to investigate themselves and subpoena people involved for questioning. However, they are not choosing to do that at this time.
“Yes, we can hold meetings, but we’re not investigators," Erie County Legislator St. Jean Tard said. "We need to leave it to the experts who do this every single day."
“You would think by now we would have answers…Where the deputy was, what he was doing, who he was with," Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick said. "They’re just rumors. If some of them are true, there may be further consequences down the road. We need an investigation of not just the events of that night but of the attempts to cover it up…They were willing to take taxpayer money, at the same time not report this, let us pay for it, let the taxpayer pay for it. That’s just wrong.”
WATCH: Erie County legislators call for outside investigation into Granville case
Both the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and Governor Kathy Hochul’s Office released statements in response to this request.
“It would be surprising to me that the Governor would direct the Attorney General to usurp this case from the court-appointed special prosecutor, who is in the midst of an ongoing investigation into this matter. In my opinion, today’s press conference lacked substance and can more appropriately be classified as political theater. “Any suggestion that my administration participated in a cover-up is patently false. As I previously stated, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office did not investigate the accident. It was reported to my administration by Chief Granville approximately 8-9 hours after it occurred. My Office reached out to the Buffalo Police Department to confirm they investigated the accident. We obtained the accident report that was prepared by the Buffalo Police Department when it was made available on April 15, 2024. The accident report was then forwarded to County Attorney Jeremy Toth’s office on the same day.”
"The Niagara County District Attorney has been named special prosecutor in this case. They are conducting an ongoing investigation, and we await the results.”
