ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – Police say Elmira city councilman Nicholas Grasso will appear in court on March 30th to answer a misdemeanor DWI charge after a crash. Police say Grasso was involved in a wreck that damaged the fence of a funeral home on West Water Street and Walnut Street. According to the incident report, the crash happened on March 16th at 1:35 am. Nobody was hurt. Police say nobody else was involved.

Councilman Grasso declined a request for comment Monday. He referred 18 News to a statement posted on his Facebook page. Here is the full statement:

On the evening of March 16th, after a successful Town Hall Meeting with the Mayor and the people of Elmira, I suffered a vehicular accident on the way home that resulted in private property damage. Thankfully I was not injured during the event, and I am even more grateful that no one else was injured.

The police who responded to the accident treated everyone involved with the utmost respect and dignity anyone could ask for. While there is currently a pending investigation, I cannot comment more at this time. What I can share is that road conditions, mechanical failure, and other unforeseen circumstances have not been ruled out. I was and will remain, fully cooperative with law enforcement and intend to continue to cooperate with all parties involved to make sure that the property that was damaged is fully restored.

However, in an effort of full transparency to my constituents of the 1st district and the people of Elmira, I felt it best to release a statement before the incident could be misconstrued.

Again, I am grateful that no one, including myself, was injured and if I’ve learned anything from this, it’s that I should be more careful when driving.

Thank You and God Bless,

Nick Grasso