Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara is due in West Roxbury court following a car crash in which Lara was reportedly driving an unregistered, uninsured car with a revoked license and expired inspection sticker.
The Friday afternoon crash happened on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain. According to a report from Boston Police, Lara told officers she swerved around another car that was pulling away from the curb, causing her to crash into a house.
The report redacts Lara's name and other identifying factors, which Sergeant Detective John Boyle of the Boston Police Department says is standard operating procedure under a privacy exemption to public records law. Identifying information is included if a person is arrested, Boyle said.
Names are redacted regardless of whether a report involves a public official, Boyle said. When Mayor Michelle Wu was involved in a car crash last month, the only identifying information in the police report was that the crash involved someone known to the commonwealth.
Several reports confirmed the person in the police report is Kendra Lara.
The report states Lara drove through bushes and a metal fence before crashing into the front porch of a house causing "significant damage." Her son suffered bruising and "profuse bleeding" from a cut on his left eyebrow. He was in the back seat without a booster seat and was taken to Boston Children's Hospital for treatment.
The driver of the other car said he saw Lara coming down Centre Street "at a high rate of speed" and he was barely out of a parking spot along the curb.
He said he did not pull out from the curb because he saw the car coming, which passed him quickly before turning left and crashing into a house. He said his car was untouched.
Lara, however, told police the driver didn't appear to check their mirrors or assess the situation before pulling out. She did not suffer any injuries, according to the police report.
Lara told police she and her son were both wearing a seatbelt when the crash happened. Officers filed a report with the Department of Children and Families because her son was not in a booster seat as required by law for children under age 8 or shorter than 57 inches.
The report indicates that drugs, alcohol and cell phone use are not suspected in the crash.
The car, a gray Honda Civic, was not registered to Lara. The name of the individual who owns the car was redacted.
The city councilor will be summonsed to West Roxbury court for five motor vehicle charges related to driving an unregistered, uninsured car with a revoked license. The car was towed and license plates were confiscated.
As of Monday morning, court records on Lara were not yet available and the arraignment date has not yet been set.
"It was a scary situation for everyone involved but thankfully Councilor Lara and Zaire are expected to make a full recovery," Lee Nave Jr., Lara's chief of staff, told NBC Boston in a statement. "She asks for privacy at this time."
Nave did not respond to GBH's request for comment at the time of publication.
