BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is accused of physically restraining a woman during an alleged domestic dispute over the weekend, according to police. Poloncarz; however, has a different account of what happened.
The alleged victim did not press charges, but did file a report with Buffalo police.
According to the report, officers responded to a call at her home around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The complainant, a woman whose name Spectrum News 1 is witholding, told police Poloncarz let her look at his phone, but became "irate" when he saw her looking at his text messages.
She said he proceeded to restrain her body against a window, but she got away and ran outside. Then, she said the county executive followed her, grabbing her again.
The report said Poloncarz left after the woman screamed for help. The county executive; however, said he had a difficult and emotional breakup with a woman he had been seeing, initiated by her looking at text messages.
Poloncarz said that included conversations both inside and outside her home, but nothing criminal happened and he had not been contacted by police or seen a report until Thursday, when a local media outlet reported it.
"I want people to hear what happened and I want people to understand I didn't restrain her. I didn't grab her or anything like that. I didn't push her up against a window. No, that didn't happen, and I'm just pretty saddened that what was a highly emotional breakup, which aren't pretty, but it didn't rise to the level of physical abuse or anything like that," Poloncarz said.
The Democratic county executive is running for reelection in November. His opponent, Republican Chrissy Casilio, released a statement accusing him of a "pattern of unhinged and unacceptable behavior," noting a female processing server alleged last year Poloncarz threatened to shoot her, a claim the county executive refuted and was never charged for.
"...as a woman, I find it repulsive. There is very clearly a double standard, and time and time again, Mark Poloncarz has refused to take accountability for his actions," Casillio wrote in her statement.
She is calling for an immediate investigation by the district attorney or an independent prosecutor outside of the county. However, Buffalo police note given the level of the alleged incident, they can not move forward with charges unless the complainant files them.