Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara pleaded not responsible to site visitors fees stemming from a June crash that left her son injured, a house in Jamaica Plain wrecked, and the house owner accusing the elected official of not caring in regards to the injury she brought on.
Lara appeared in court docket Wednesday the place an assistant clerk Justice of the Peace discovered sufficient proof to maneuver ahead with an arraignment later within the day on a number of fees.
Her lawyer, Attorney Carl Williams, entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf after police stated she was dashing down Centre Street, crashed right into a home, and endangered her son by not placing him in a automotive seat.
Lara stated she is “committed to seeing” the authorized course of by way of.
“I have faith and trust in the court process and I will continue to go through it as is required of me,” Lara instructed reporters outdoors the courthouse after her arraignment. “My commitment right now and my focus is continuing to represent my constituents in District Six and making sure that I’m representing them in the best way that I can.”
Lara was charged with allowing bodily harm to a baby beneath 14 years outdated, negligent operation of a motorized vehicle, reckless operation of a motorized vehicle, dashing, driving with a suspended license, driving an uninsured car, driving an unregistered car, failing to put on a seat belt, and never inserting a baby beneath 8 years outdated and beneath 58 inches in a automotive seat.
First Assistant Clerk Magistrate Paul Troy tacked on two extra fees — negligent operation of a motorized vehicle and allowing harm to a baby — throughout the morning clerk Justice of the Peace listening to. Attorney Williams unsuccessfully tried to get them dismissed.
Judge Kathleen Coffey ordered Lara to not drive a car with no legitimate driver’s license whereas her case performs out in court docket. Prosecutors declined to hunt a money bail and Lara was launched from court docket on private recognizance.
Lara is due again in court docket on August 16 for a pre-trial listening to to argue over motions to dismiss filed by her lawyer.
Her crash is certainly one of a number of scandals which have plagued the town council in latest months, resulting in turmoil within the elected physique and a number of other choices to not run for re-election this fall. Supporters who confirmed as much as court docket included Councilors Ricardo Arroyo, Julia Mejia, and Tania Fernandes Anderson, and Boston state Rep. Russell Holmes, who left the courtroom earlier than the proceedings started.
The crash touched off a evaluation of parking procedures at City Hall, the place City Council President Ed Flynn required officers to submit a parking software with proof of a legitimate driver’s license. City officers stated Lara “regularly” drove a darkish grey Honda Civic to work although she was barred from driving.
A police report stated Lara was driving an uninsured, unregistered automotive that belonged to Somerville resident Thomas Owens with a revoked license no less than 53 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.
Lara stated she crashed into the home after swerving to keep away from a parked automotive that was pulling into the road. The driver of that automotive stated he activated his flip sign however didn’t pull out into the road as a result of he noticed Lara approaching at a “high rate of speed,” in line with the police report.
The driver of second car didn’t reply to a message left Wednesday at a quantity listed of their identify.
“(The driver) stated that he was barely out of the parking spot along the curb and barely in motion when he noticed a car driving down the street from behind him at a high rate of speed,” the police report stated.
Georgia Kalogerakis, the proprietor of the broken Jamaica Plain house, stated she was not house on the time of the crash however was “shocked” when she arrived again to a automotive in her entrance yard. City data valued the house at over $1 million in fiscal 12 months 2023 and Kalogerakis stated she has house insurance coverage.
“She should acknowledge her actions and what they caused and give some consideration to correcting them or providing for the damage,” Kalogerakis stated contained in the Roxbury courthouse. “The car hit the foundation of my house, it moved the porch over, forget about the bush and the fence.”
Kalogerakis wouldn’t say whether or not Lara ought to resign.
“But she has to be accountable,” Kalogerakis stated. “I don’t like to say negative things about anybody. I’m not that kind of person. But she doesn’t seem to care about what she has caused.”
Lara’s driving document exhibits a number of violations and sanctions, together with a number of in Connecticut, and a police report provides extra perception into the councilor’s driving historical past.
A report from a Boston Police Department auto investigator stated Lara was issued a quotation in August 2010 for not having a registration in her possession and failing to put on a seatbelt. Her license was suspended in April 2013 after failing to pay fines or prices related to not carrying a seatbelt.
Law enforcement present in 2015 that Lara was cited in Connecticut for a National Driver’s Registry out-of-state violation “as Lara’s Massachusetts driver’s license was suspended at the time of this incident.”
“Lara then missed a court date in Connecticut on July 1, 2014, and her license was suspended in Connecticut, which was then revoked in Massachusetts by the Registry of Motor Vehicles,” The police report stated.
Boston Police Officer David Murray stated in court docket Wednesday that although Lara was cited for the automotive seat violation and the rear passenger aspect seatbelt was buckled on the time of the accident, “the child may not have been completely restrained properly.”
The report stated the kid may have been sitting with the lap belt fixed with the shoulder belt behind him kneeling on the seat, or not within the seat belt in any respect.
“He struck the armrest and the rear of the front passenger side car seat,” the report stated. “The child, based on his age … and height (smaller than 57 inches), was to have been restrained in a booster seat.”
Lara, who didn’t drive herself to court docket, was a couple of minutes late for the afternoon metropolis council assembly. Her court docket look was not addressed within the open assembly.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”