May 19
2025
‘Hostile takeover’ of union by Granville supporters
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Erie County Sheriff John Garcia and Chief of Narcotics D.J. Granville.
Members of the union that represents Erie County Sheriff’s officers last Tuesday voted to provide $25,000 toward paying the lawyers representing D.J. Granville, the narcotics chief who last April plowed his county-owned pickup truck into seven parked cars on Buffalo’s West Side.
But some union members are crying foul on the decision and petitioning for a second meeting to reconsider the matter.
“This was an attempted hostile takeover of our PBA’s democratic process by D.J. Granville and a small group of his supporters,” said one union member, who spoke to Investigative Post on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution.
The Erie County Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Association has about 175 members, including deputies, detectives, sergeants, lieutenants and captains. Its regular meetings are generally not well attended, sources told Investigative Post — quorum is set at 10 members — which makes it easy to stack a vote.
Granville is the only chief who is also a union member, an arrangement former Sheriff Tim Howard made for Granville’s predecessor in the job. That means Granville can collect overtime. It also means he can turn to the union for legal representation in certain situations.
Related story/commentary: NY Times sues Sheriff Garcia
Tuesday’s meeting took place at The Italian Village Restaurant in Depew. Granville, along with a dozen or more supporters, many of them officers under his command, attended with the intention of pushing through a motion to make the union contribute $25,000 toward Granville’s legal tab, sources said.
Granville has retained prominent attorney Terry Connors to represent him.
A handful of union members opposed the motion but were outnumbered by the pro-Granville crowd.
Asked for comment on the matter, union leadership referred a reporter to their attorney, Carl Morgan. In a letter to Investigative Post, Morgan confirmed that “a request to provide financial support for Chief Granville was received at a recent PBA meeting.”
He also said no money had been released as of Friday.
“At this time, however, no contribution has been made and the topic may be revisited when the PBA has full possession of all the facts surrounding the incident and is assured of the ethical and legal propriety of such a contribution,” Morgan wrote.
Donate to support our nonprofit newsroomUnion members on Thursday began circulating a petition calling for the union to convene a special meeting to reconsider the decision. The petition requires 15 signatures of members in good standing, according to the union’s by-laws. The meeting must be held within five days of the petition being submitted and verified as valid by the union’s attorney, which means it likely would occur within the next two weeks.
The only item on the agenda would be Granville’s request for $25,000 to pay Connors’ retainer.
Granville on April 11 of last year was driving a county-owned pickup truck when he hit two parked cars on Jersey Street, according to witnesses. He then turned the wrong way down one-way Prospect Avenue and hit four more, before the heavily damaged truck could travel no further.
The police response to the scene was overseen by Granville’s sister-in-law, Lt. Lucia Esquilin. Granville was whisked away from the scene, according to witnesses. The police incident report does not indicate he was given any sobriety tests.
The late-night mayhem was kept under wraps until Investigative Post reported the story.
The Buffalo Police Department’s Internal Affairs and the Erie County Sheriff’s Professional Standards divisions say they are investigating the incident, including the Buffalo police’s handling of the affair.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Alphonso Wright last month told the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee his department opened its investigation into the incident in January, in response to a complaint. Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said he knew no details about the Granville incident prior to Investigative Post reporting the story.
The Erie County District Attorney’s Office, citing a potential conflict of interest, asked Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman to conduct an inquiry. Both the police and sheriff’s departments say their investigations will not conclude until after Seaman releases his findings.
Meanwhile, five Buffalo police officers, including Esquilin, have been placed on paid administrative leave. Seaman last month asked Buffalo police to issue three traffic citations to Granville — all for leaving the scene of an accident — on the day the one-year statute of limitations was set to expire.
Those are the only charges Granville faces currently. In the wake of the incident, he was issued a ticket for driving the wrong way down a one-way street, which subsequently was reduced to jaywalking.
Granville has been on sick leave since two days after the story published.
