James Grana has been a Rockford police officer since 2017.

Around midnight on May 23rd, 2019, Grana was the first Rockford police officer to respond to the scene of a woman who had been pulled over by Winnebago County Sheriff deputy Juan Glover.

Glover initiated the stop after the woman began driving the wrong way on a one-way. When Glover approached the car, he found a woman crying uncontrollably.

The woman told Glover that she had been in a car with Eric Thurmond - a Rockford police department officer at the time - when he pressured her into sex. She told Glover the sex was not consensual and further identified Thurmond as the Dancing Cop.

Glover alerted his supervisors, who contacted RPD officers to show up at the scene.

Grana was the first to arrive and under the direction of his sergeant Jason Dobran, he began speaking to the victim who was still in tears.

She told Grana that she had gone to Prairie Street Brewhouse around 8 to meet up with friends. Among this group was Eric Thurmond and his girlfriend at the time. The group went out on a friend's boat for a period of time before returning to the brewhouse.

They went inside the brewhouse before different parts of their group started leaving. The woman decided to leave when Thurmond offered her a ride - his girlfriend had just left.

The woman accepted a ride and the two got into Thurmond's Jeep. He drove for a short while before parking on a dark, unknown street. At that time, Thurmond leaned in to kiss the woman and began unbuckling her pants.

The woman pulled away from him, saying (your girlfriend) wouldn't like this.

Thurmond responded, saying it was fine and told her to get on top. When she didn't move, he pulled her onto him. His penis was already out and he had removed her shorts.

He began having sex with her while the woman tried to pull herself away. After a few minutes, she was able to successfully throw herself off of him and into the passenger seat. She told Thurmond that she was done.

Thurmond drove her back to her car and told her to get out. It was at that point she got in her car and mistakenly drove the wrong way down a one-way.

Grana, after hearing all of this, took the woman to Swedish American for a sexual assault kit. Once the kit was completed and turned over to Grana - it was around 5:20 a.m. of 5/24/2019 - he took the woman to District Two to speak with detectives.

During the encounter, the woman expressed fear of Thurmond's popularity potentially preventing people from believing her.

Grana had no further involvement in this case.

In 2019, Grana made $65,618 in salary + $11,817 in overtime = $77,435 + $8,060 in health insurance + $30,497 pension pay.

In 2020, they made $71,316 in salary + $8,370 in overtime = $79,686 + $8,385 in health insurance + $33,025 in pension pay.

In 2021, they made $85,475 in salary + $10,877 in overtime = $96,352 + $8,060 in health insurance + $34,932 in pension pay.

In 2022, they made $88,318 in salary + $26,409 in overtime = $114,727 + $8,450 in health insurance + $39,700 in pension pay.

In 2023, they made $91,785 in salary + $34,146 in overtime = $125,931 + $8,450 in health insurance + $46,059 in pension pay.

In 2024, they made $84,915 in salary + $21,292 in overtime = $106,207 + $8,775 in health insurance + $52,059 in pension pay.

If you or anyone you know has been abused, harassed or otherwise mistreated by this officer please email us with the officers name in the subject.