Erie County Legislature calls on AG, governor to look into Granville case

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Erie County Legislature on Thursday called on Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Kathy Hochul to investigate the case of Erie County Sheriff Chief of Narcotics D.J. Granville.

Granville was placed on paid administrative leave after he allegedly hit six vehicles, damaging a total of seven, while on duty in April 2024 on Buffalo’s West Side. The collision caused nearly $60,000 in damage. He was allegedly on prescribed medication at the time.

In August, Granville was suspended without pay and sentenced to 50 hours of community service and a $600 fine for one count of reckless driving, and one count of leaving the scene of a property damage accident. He is expected to return back to work soon.

Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman was appointed as a special prosecutor of the case after a conflict of interest was found with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. Seaman said in August that he received “no cooperation” from the Buffalo police officers who responded on the night of the incident and questioned whether they treated Granville the same they would have with anyone else.

Members of the Erie County Legislature and Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick expressed frustration on Thursday, saying they have not received any answers surrounding the collision, investigation and what Hardwick called a cover-up.

“It was an effective cover-up. It worked for 11 months. I wasn’t aware of it,” Hardwick said. “By that point, there were seven cars damaged, two claims had come through my office for payment at different times, processed by different employees in my office. There was no way we would’ve caught that. Some of the claims are still outstanding, by the way, and certainly we are looking to get the money back on that.”

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said in a statement Thursday that “any suggestion that [his] administration participated in a cover-up is patently false.” He went on to say that the accident was reported by Granville eight to nine hours afterwards.

“My Office reached out to the Buffalo Police Department to confirm they investigated the accident,” Garcia said. “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.”

Hardwick said the investigation by Hochul and James would help to restore public trust in local law enforcement and emphasized the need for transparency.

“They were willing to take taxpayer money [and] at the same time, not report this, let us pay for it, let the taxpayer pay for it,” he said. “That’s just wrong, by people who get their paycheck from Erie County government.”

Legislator Taisha St. Jean Tard said if Hochul does not give permission to James to handle the investigation, the legislature may subpoena.

According to Chairman Tim Meyers, the last time Hochul visited Erie County, she said she would “consider” investigating Granville’s case.

“This is one of the reasons why we’ve made this request, because the attorney general holds a big badge and she can bring somebody in and question them,” Meyers said. “‘You’re here to answer these questions… and if you don’t, or else.’ I don’t know if we have that ‘or else’ in our pocket.”

Along with asking for answers in the Granville case, Legislator Jeanne Vinal submitted a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request regarding police take-home vehicles and overtime submissions.

Watch Thursday’s full press conference in the video above.