A Niagara County Sheriff's deputy who was involved in a deadly crash last October is resigning, as of Friday.
Deputy James Bissell III is stepping down from the force. He had only been with the sheriff's office for a few months when on October 22, he ran a stop sign around 7 p.m. where Route 93, Route 104 and Plank Road in the Town of Cambria meet and T-boned an SUV, which rolled several times before landing on its roof.
The driver of that vehicle, 61-year-old Glenn Annalora of Lockport, was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His wife, 58-year-old Mary Annalora, was flown by Mercy Flight to ECMC.
Bissell had his lights on, which may indicate he was attempting to pull someone over, but was not en route to a call. He suffered a head injury in the crash.
The Annalora family has hired attorney Terry Connors to represent them.
"We're primarily focused on the conduct of the driver that smashed into the Annalora vehicle, killed Mr. Annalora and really seriously injured Mrs. Annalora," said Connors. "That conduct looks to us to be reckless and careless."
The crash prompted an outcry for change among neighbors who say the intersection is dangerous.
Sheriff James Voutour said the deputy had his body camera and dash camera rolling, which will be used in the investigation. The deputy's patrol vehicle also have a black box.
7 Eyewitness News has twice used a Freedom of Information request to try to obtain the video from the deputy's body camera and dash camera and have twice been denied.
The accident remains under investigation.
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