Sheriff: There was no cover up of actions by his chief of narcotics D.J. Granville

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Erie County Sheriff John Garcia answered questions from lawmakers for the first time Thursday since his chief of narcotics pleaded guilty to reckless driving for smashing seven vehicles over a year ago.

Garcia defended his narcotics chief, Daniel "D.J." Granville, who on April 11, 2024, was driving a county-owned truck at about 11 p.m. when he crashed into six parked vehicles, damaging seven, on two streets in the West Side neighborhood in Buffalo. The damage totaled approximately $70,000, which he is expected to pay back in restitution.

Buffalo police responded to the incident, including Granville's sister-in-law, who was a lieutenant supervising that night. The officers did not conduct any sobriety tests, but Garcia said Granville told him the following day that he was not intoxicated that night.

Granville was battling depression and "uncontrollable anxiety," which led to a doctor increasing the dose of his medication, Garcia said. But Garcia admitted he did not ask Granville if prescribed medication or illicit drugs impaired his operation of the truck, which was totaled.

"I didn't know at the time of the accident that he was on any medication," Garcia said.

Although initially there was confusion over whether Granville was on or off duty, the sheriff said Thursday that Granville was working a drug investigation but did not complete his time sheet because he had boarded a plane flying to another state.

Garcia said Granville failed to follow policy, which requires deputies to "immediately" report crashes and other incidents they are involved in, but he did not learn about what happened until the following day.

Garcia took offense to those who characterized the incident as a cover-up, despite the public not knowing until the media reported it. He said six Buffalo police officers responded, and none found evidence that Granville was impaired.

The sheriff's office followed procedure once learning about the incident by reporting it to appropriate parties, he said.

"It cannot be credibly claimed that this was covered up," Garcia said.

The sheriff said he was satisfied with Granville's proactive steps to seek treatment. He did not see a need to discipline him until the Buffalo News published a video of Granville smashing into several vehicles.

"It became clear that I needed to take further action," Garcia said.

That resulted in the sheriff's office placing him on administrative leave, and a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate.

In August, Granville pleaded guilty to reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident that caused property damage. He was sentenced to 50 hours of community service.

Garcia said Granville's plea to a misdemeanor led him to place him on a 30-day unpaid suspension.

Granville was subjected to doxing, threats, and angry social media posts, Garcia said -- attacks he claimed would not happen to a civilian.

Garcia did not directly answer whether he would have conducted sobriety tests if faced with a similar incident. Instead, he said his 14 drug-recognition experts handle sobriety tests, but his staff didn't know about the crashes until the following day. Also, he said the Buffalo Police Department did not notify the sheriff's office that their chief of narcotics was involved in a crash.

"Nothing seemed crazy to me," said Undersheriff William Cooley, when he spoke with Granville.

But Cooley added they were at a disadvantage by not having a chance to respond to the scene of the crashes that night.

"I can see why someone would form that opinion" that Granville may have been drunk, Cooley said.

Photographs of the truck Granville totaled showed the passenger-side airbag had deployed.

The truck's manual states the passenger airbag would not activate if the seat was empty. In addition, the passenger seat is equipped with weight sensors to prevent it from deploying if a child was on the seat.

News 4 Investigates asked Garcia who was in the truck with Granville: "That's a question the Buffalo police investigated that night," Garcia said. "I've never been told that there was anybody in the vehicle other than D.J. Granville, including D.J. Granville's testimony to us."

Garcia defended his decision to keep Granville on the force and said he does not understand the "vitriol."

The sheriff said it would be incorrect to say the community has lost trust in him and his department.

"The community does trust us, and we have a great relationship with the community," Garcia said.