Boston Mayor Michelle Wu can't explain why police lights were on in her car crash
BOSTON – Boston Mayor Michelle Wu could not explain Wednesday why her police cruiser's emergency lights were on when it ended up in a collision Tuesday.
Wu was a passenger in an unmarked cruiser that crashed just before 10 a.m. at the intersection of Hyde Park Avenue and Blakemore Street in Roslindale.
Video of the crash showed the unmarked cruiser entering the intersection turning left with its blue lights on. A driver who was going straight through the intersection hit the driver's side of the police car.
Wu was asked about the crash during an event in Charlestown Wednesday, but declined to answer questions about why her vehicle's emergency lights were on.
"It was not an emergency yesterday where we were headed. It's an incident that is under review and again I have full faith in the team and their professionalism, and grateful for all they do to keep us safe. I'm just glad that everyone walked away from that scene with me safe," Wu said.
Wu told reporters she's a little stiff following the collision, but otherwise OK. The woman who was driving the other car and a child in the back seat of that car were not hurt.
The mayor's office said Boston police will investigate the incident "as they do with all crashes involving departmental motor vehicles."
The mayor told reporters she was sitting in the front seat of the car and was looking down at paperwork at the time of the collision and felt the jolt of the impact.
The car that struck the cruiser was driven by 32-year-old Yosmery Pena with her 1-year-old son in a car seat in the back. She said Wu rode in the ambulance with her as her son was brought to the hospital to be checked out. He wasn't hurt but his neck was bruised by a strap from his car seat.
"She didn't hear the sirens but she did see the flashing. But it took her awhile because she had vehicles in front of her to see them. She went because she had green," Pena said through an interpreter. She said she was going no more than 25 to 30 miles an hour and the air bags didn't deploy.
"She knows that federal or government vehicles are supposed to give some time, even though they're going with the flashing lights and sirens to give people enough awareness that they're coming through, and she doesn't believe they did that," Pena said through an interpreter.
Boston police issued a statement on the crash Wednesday.
While operating a Department motor vehicle, one of our officers was involved in a collision with a member of the public yesterday and we will investigate that as we do all such incidents. We are grateful that no one was seriously hurt. That investigation will determine whether Department rules and regulations were followed. The Department has historically provided dignitary protection for the Mayor of the City, for other dignitaries, funeral escorts, etc.
The police report on the crash does not refer to Wu by name but says the officer's passenger "is known to the Commonwealth."
The report said that the officer who was driving "was unable to avoid the collision" due to the second vehicle's "fast approach," and said the driver "did not stop or slow down for the cruiser's lights and siren."
