The Boston Police Department has released body camera video of the aftermath of a crash involving Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara, who was reportedly driving at least 53 mph in a 25-mph zone.
The car crashed on June 30 near the Civil War monument in Jamaica Plain at the intersection of Centre and South streets, according to a statement from Lee Nave Jr., Lara’s chief of staff.
Lara’s 7-year-old son was admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital, where he received several stitches, Nave noted in the statement.
Lara was driving a sedan when she said she swerved to avoid another car, went through a fence and yard and hit a house. The video released by the police department shows the sedan parked in the yard touching the house. The vehicle was wrecked, according to The Boston Globe.
“The Councilor thanks the responding officer from Boston Police substation E13, Boston EMS, Boston Fire, and the attending team in the Children’s Hospital emergency room for their care,” the Nave said in the statement said. “She also thanks the neighbors and bystanders who came to their aid on the scene.”
“It was a scary situation for everyone involved but thankfully Councilor Lara and Zaire are expected to make a full recovery. She asks for privacy at this time,” Nave added.
WCVB reported a police report stated she was driving at least 53 mph in a 25-mph zone. She was also driving an unregistered and uninsured car, according to police, and her license had been suspended about 10 years ago due to an unpaid fine for a seatbelt violation, the news outlet reported.
“I just swerved out of the way and went straight into that front,” Lara can be heard saying in the video. “I just couldn’t hit the brakes fast enough before I hit the …”
The driver of the other car said he was beginning to pull out from the side of the road when Lara’s car came by “at a very high speed.”
“I wasn’t out very far,” he said. “And this car came at a very high speed and swerved and landed there.”
Police did not release the man’s identity and blocked his face in the video.
Lara pleaded not guilty to eight charges, WCVB reported.
City Council President Ed Flynn tweeted a public letter calling out Lara.
“Troubling ethical and legal lapses continue to reflect poorly on Council members, and Boston residents deserve better,” he wrote.
