Opinion
May 28, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Monroe County, Wisner, J.
Present — Denman, P.J., Green, Balio, Fallon and Davis, JJ.
Judgment unanimously affirmed without costs. Memorandum: The IAS Court did not err in dismissing the complaint against defendant Meloni. It is well established that "a Sheriff cannot be held personally liable for the acts or omissions of his deputies while performing criminal justice functions, and that this principle precludes vicarious liability for the torts of a deputy" (Barr v County of Albany, 50 N.Y.2d 247, 257; see also, Urbanski v County of Monroe, 134 A.D.2d 925; Hooper v Meloni, 123 A.D.2d 511). It is not disputed that the vehicle that plaintiff was storing on his premises for an unidentified person had been reported stolen in 1985 and that Nationwide Insurance Company (Nationwide), having paid a claim on the stolen vehicle, was the title owner. The Sheriff's deputies were attempting to assist a representative of Nationwide in retrieving the stolen vehicle, clearly a criminal justice function (see, Penal Law § 450.10). The existence of a garageman's lien does not take the action of the deputies outside of the rule enunciated in Barr v County of Albany (supra).