Buffalo, NY – Erie County Sheriff John C. Garcia reports the arrest of a Sheriff’s correctional officer following an investigation of prison contraband at the Erie County Correctional Facility.

On January 4, at approximately 6:20 p.m., Deputies located and stopped Jason Stachowski’s vehicle on Interstate 190 near Clinton Street to affect his arrest. While attempting to take the subject into custody, Stachowski was confrontational and tried to flee. Deputies were able to secure the individual and place him into custody.

In mid-December, the Sheriff’s Narcotics and Intelligence Unit worked with Jail Management supervisors, the Professional Standards Division, and the Erie County District Attorney’s office after a cell phone, a phone charger, and an amount of marijuana were discovered within the Alden facility.

Information collected through the investigation led the Sheriff’s Office to Stachowski as the individual who smuggled in the contraband.

Following the traffic stop, Stachowski was charged with a felony count of introducing dangerous contraband into a prison, and misdemeanor counts of obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.

The defendant is held at the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office holding center and is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today at Alden Town Court.

He is currently suspended without pay.