Buffalo, NY – Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard reports a vehicle involved in a hit and run crash in Grand Island on November 20 was located in a collision shop in the City of Niagara Falls and the driver was arrested.

The Sheriff’s Office responded to an accident on Grand Island Boulevard around 6 p.m. where a turning vehicle was struck in the rear and the operator of the second vehicle fled the scene northbound on Grand Island Boulevard.

The driver of the struck vehicle was transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries and his 9-year-old daughter was released from the scene.

In the meantime, the Sheriff’s Office, Grand Island Police, New York State Police, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office began searching for an SUV with front-end damage.  A search of local roadways did not turn up a vehicle matching the type, style or damage.

Sheriff’s Deputies and Grand Island Police determined the plate number of the suspected vehicle and on November 21, the Niagara Falls Police Department contacted the Erie County Sheriff's Office about a vehicle matching the make and damage discovered while searching a collision shop within the city.

Deputy Coniglio and Officer Sukmanowski’s investigation revealed that Justin Walton, 31 of Niagara Falls, was operating the vehicle and subsequently Walton was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, following too closely and depositing debris on the highway.

The defendant was arraigned by Grand Island Town Justice Frentzel and has a future appearance in Grand Island Town Court.