Erie County DA: No charges following probe of ex-Lockport highway chief

Dec. 7—The Erie County District Attorney's Office has declined to file charges against former Town of Lockport Highway Superintendent Dave Miller following an investigation opened by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office last year.

Kait Munro, a spokesperson for the Erie County District Attorney John Flynn, confirmed that the DA's office declined to file charges in the case following a review of information provided by Niagara County Sheriff's Office investigators.

Flynn's office served as special prosecutor after Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman's office recused itself, citing a conflict of interest.

"Our office determined that there was not enough evidence to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law," Munro said of the Miller case.

The sheriff's office confirmed in July 2022 that it opened an investigation into Miller's activities at the town highway department following what Sheriff Mike Filicetti described at the time as a complaint about "inappropriate conduct."

In a statement issued in response to questions on Wednesday, Filicetti said the matter was "thoroughly investigated" by his office and "all materials were forwarded to the special prosecutor at the Erie County District Attorney's Office."

"Prosecution was declined by that office," Filicetti confirmed.

In a July 2022 interview with this newspaper, Miller described the accusations of wrongdoing that prompted the investigation as "baseless" and said they were triggered by a "disgruntled person" who was "trying to smear an elected official."

In the same interview, Miller said he took surplus dirt from the town's public works yard and delivered it to a Fisk Road property where his son was building a house. He contended there was nothing wrong with that because the surplus dirt was free to anyone in the town, including him and members of his family.

Miller said he picked up 16 tandem truckloads of dirt from the town highway department yard on Dysinger Road and delivered it to the property on Fisk Road. Miller said private trucks were used to move the dirt and a town loader was used to load the dirt onto the trucks. He said that was standard practice for anyone picking up what's described in the town policy as "unneeded ditching dirt."

"There were no town trucks involved in this," he said at the time. "There was a loader, but we always load it. We load it for everybody."

A 2012 town policy covering the handling of dirt that accumulates during ditch digging and excavation, generally from sewer and water line installation and repair projects, says the dirt is to be stored at the highway department yard and made available for free to "any nearby property which is easily accessible for which the owner has requested fill." In instances when the dirt pile gets too big, town workers haul excess dirt to the town dump.

Miller retired in August, submitting his letter of resignation to Town Supervisor Mark Crocker with "mixed emotions." He was replaced as highway superintendent by James Rook on Aug. 16 although the town agreed to retain Miller as a consultant on highway department matters, at the rate of $50 per hour, up to 20 hours a month, for up to one year.