Greece supervisor challenger questions town leadership integrity over handling of police chief crash

GREECE, N.Y. (WHEC) — Greece Town Supervisor candidate Jim Leary issued a statement Sunday afternoon in response to the Monroe County District Attorney’s investigation of the police car crash involving Greece police chief Andrew Forsythe.

Leary, identifying himself as a career police officer for the Town of Greece, says the initial aftermath of the crash raises serious concerns about the integrity of the town leadership and he questions why Supervisor Bill Reilich failed to act responsibly for his department employees.

Leary, running as a Democrat, is challenging Republican incumbent Bill Reilich in this year’s election on Nov. 2.

"This is a police officer’s nightmare, to be called to the scene of an incident involving your department head. Why didn’t Supervisor Reilich make certain that state police were summoned as the incident occurred on a state highway?" the statement reads.

"If an investigation by the district attorney has been merited, elements of this crash must raise serious questions. If so, why has Bill Reilich not yet acted to preserve justice and the integrity of the town’s police department and placed Forsythe on limited duties until investigators reach a conclusion?" the statement continues.

News10NBC’s Stephanie Duprey spoke to Town Supervisor Bill Reilich who says the town asked the DA to investigate to make sure things were "transparent."

"To be transparent, we thought it would be best to have an outside agency examine the facts and do their own investigation and that’s why we asked the DA to get involved. We’re going to wait until the conclusion of their investigation and depending on the outcome, we’ll act accordingly," Reilich said.

News10NBC’s Duprey also met with Leary after he issued his statement.

"He met with the supervisor on Thursday morning. He should have been placed on administrative leave. Why wasn’t a chemical breath test administered? Why wasn’t there any roadside test administered? So now, we have a dark cloud over the Greece Police Department again. We don’t need that. Those officers have gone through enough," Leary said.

According to the department spokesman, Chief Forsythe was involved in an accident in the early hours of Thursday morning as he was trying to avoid a deer on 390 North and hit a guardrail. Greece PD responded to it and investigated the accident. Responding officers did not check for drunk driving. Saturday evening, the Monroe County DA’s office announced it was launching an investigation into the crash.