BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Erie County District Attorney's Office is taking another look into a crash during a police chase, which injured a Buffalo Police officer nearly 15 months ago.
This comes as the family of another man, injured during the incident and who later died, is now seeking justice for their loved one, whose story - they feel, fell through the cracks.
In a story first reported on Monday by WHEC TV in Rochester, relatives of Joe Rittler Sr. say they believe the person who was held accountable for the officer's injuries, should also face charges in connection with the injuries sustained by Rittler, who died almost a year to the day after the crash occurred. Rittler lived in the Rochester suburb of Spencerport.
Chase Ends in Violent Crash
On June 3, 2021, Buffalo Police Officer Jonathan Negron was chasing an SUV when it hit a light pole on Harlem Road in Cheektowaga. The pole fell on top of Negron's patrol car, resulting in severe injuries that left Negron hospitalized for more than a month.
But during the incident, that driver also plowed into a parked pickup truck occupied by Rittler Sr., 81, his son Joe, and a grandson.
In cell phone videos the elder Rittler was seen after the impact first holding his head and then, after exiting the vehicle, speaking with others with a noticeable welt swelling above his right eye.
According to his family, his MRIs and CAT scans later detected a brain injury.
By April they say Rittler couldn't speak or get out of bed, and after receiving last rights, died on June 1st, almost a year after the crash.
In a letter after his death, a doctor opined Rittler's "precipitous decline" was connected to a "high speed" accident and noted direct trauma to the brain.
Our Loved One Deserves Justice
"We all wish it didn't happen that way. It feels like he was stolen from us," Rittler's son Joe Jr. told News 10 NBC. "If you are running from the police and cause an accident and hurt someone you should be charged with a crime for that."
The 16-year-old driver who led police on the chase, and whom authorities never identified publicly because of his age, eventually pleaded guilty to fleeing police and assault on an officer.
He was later sentenced to 9 years in prison.
The juvenile was never charged, however, for crashing into the truck Joe Rittler Sr. was sitting in.
"They never inquired about our injuries and they certainly never took any photos of my father or anything who had a softball size welt on his head...So we want answers. And we want justice for our father," Rittler Jr. said.
A Buffalo Police spokesman told WHEC that Rittler Sr. "gave detectives a statement stating he suffered no injuries during the incident."
The Erie County District Attorney's Office also issued a statement saying “During the prosecution of this case, our office was not presented with evidence of another person being injured in the collision. Officer Negron was the only reported victim to receive medical treatment for injuries sustained as a result of the crash that occurred on June 3, 2021.”
Reached on Tuesday, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn declined a request for an on-camera interview but did confirm that his office is now further investigating Rittler Sr.'s death.