PROBABLE CAUSE AND AN IMMEDIATE ARRAIGNMENT
Councilor Lara also hit with added charges in crash case
Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara pleaded not guilty to traffic charges stemming from a June crash that left her son injured, a home in Jamaica Plain wrecked, and the homeowner accusing the elected official of not caring about the damage she caused.
Lara appeared in court yesterday where an assistant clerk magistrate found enough evidence to move forward with an arraignment later in the day on multiple charges.
Her lawyer, Attorney Carl Williams, entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf after police said she was speeding down Centre Street, crashed into a house, and endangered her son by not putting him in a car seat.
Lara said she is “committed to seeing” the legal process through.
“I have faith and trust in the court process and I will continue to go through it as is required of me,” Lara told reporters outside 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 permitting bodily injury to a child under 14 years old, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, speeding, driving with a suspended license, driving an uninsured vehicle, driving an unregistered vehicle, failing to wear a seat belt, and not placing a child under 8 years old and under 58 inches in a car seat.
First Assistant Clerk Magistrate Paul Troy tacked on two additional charges — negligent operation of a motor vehicle and permitting injury to a child — during the morning clerk magistrate hearing. Attorney Williams unsuccessfully tried to get them dismissed.
Judge Kathleen Coffey ordered Lara to not drive a vehicle without a valid driver’s license while her case plays out in court. Prosecutors declined to seek a cash bail and Lara was released from court on personal recognizance.
Lara is due back in court on August 16 for a pre-trial hearing to argue over motions to dismiss filed by her attorney.
Her crash is one of several scandals that have plagued the city council in recent months, leading to turmoil in the elected body and several decisions not to run for re-election this fall. Supporters who showed up to court included Councilors Ricardo Arroyo, Julia Mejia, and Tania Fernandes Anderson, and Boston state Rep. Russell Holmes, who left the courtroom before the proceedings began.
The crash touched off a review of parking procedures at City Hall, where City Council President Ed Flynn required officials to submit a parking application with proof of a valid driver’s license. City officials said Lara “regularly” drove a dark gray Honda Civic to work even though she was barred from driving.
A police report said Lara was driving an uninsured, unregistered car that belonged to Somerville resident Thomas Owens with a revoked license at least 53 miles per hour in a 25-mileper-hour zone.
Lara said she crashed into the house after swerving to avoid a parked car that was pulling into the street. The driver of that car said he activated his turn signal but did not pull out into the street because he saw Lara approaching at a “high rate of speed,” according to the police report.
The driver of second vehicle did not respond to a message left at a number listed in their name.
“(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 said.
Georgia Kalogerakis, the owner of the damaged Jamaica Plain home, said she was not home at the time of the crash but was “shocked” when she arrived back to a car in her front yard. City records valued the home at over $1 million in fiscal year 2023 and Kalogerakis said she has home insurance.
“She should acknowledge her actions and what they caused and give some consideration to correcting them or providing for the damage,” Kalogerakis said inside the Roxbury courthouse. “The car hit the foundation of my house, it moved the porch over, forget about the bush and the fence.”
Kalogerakis would not say whether Lara should resign.
“But she has to be accountable,” Kalogerakis said. “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 record shows multiple violations and sanctions, including several in Connecticut, and a police report offers more insight into the councilor’s driving history.
A report from a Boston Police Department auto investigator said Lara was issued a citation in August 2010 for not having a registration in her possession and failing to wear a seatbelt. Her license was suspended in April 2013 after failing to pay fines or costs
associated with not wearing a seatbelt.
Law enforcement found 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 said.
Boston Police Officer David Murray said in court Wednesday that even though Lara was cited for the car seat violation and the rear passenger side seatbelt was buckled at the time of the accident, “the child may not have been completely restrained properly.”
The report said the child could have been sitting with the lap belt fastened with the shoulder belt behind him kneeling on the seat, or not in the seat belt at all.
“He struck the armrest and the rear of the front passenger side car seat,” the report said. “The child, based on his age … and height (smaller than 57 inches), was to have been restrained in a booster seat.”
Lara, who did not drive herself to court, was a few minutes late for the afternoon city council meeting. Her court appearance was not addressed in the open meeting.