Local News

Here’s what we’ve learned about the car crash Mayor Wu was a passenger in

A police report says the unmarked cruiser's siren was activated when it went through the red light, but the other driver says she didn't hear it.

By Susannah Sudborough

June 8, 2023

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was a passenger in an unmarked police cruiser when another car crashed into it Tuesday. Since then, more details about the crash have emerged.

What we already knew

The crash happened in Roslindale at the intersection of Hyde Park Avenue and Blakemore Street. The mayor’s office confirmed that no one was seriously injured in the crash.

Video from the incident shows that the lights for cars traveling on Hyde Park Avenue were green at the time of the crash, and that cars on that road had already gone through the intersection when the unmarked cruiser entered from Blakemore Street.

The video shows that the cruiser had its emergency lights on when it entered the intersection. The car in the lane closest to Blakemore Street stops for the cruiser, but the car in the adjacent lane continues through the intersection, hitting the driver’s side of the cruiser with its front end.

What we learned from the police report

According to the police report from the incident, the crash happened around 9:50 a.m. It says the cruiser had its sirens on when it “slowly” approached the intersection so that the cars on Hyde Park Avenue could see and hear the cruiser.

“The first lane of traffic travelling outbound on Hyde Park Avenue observed the cruiser’s lights and sirens and came to a complete stop. Officer [last name] then proceeded to cross the second lane of traffic,” the report reads.

“Officer [last name] was in the second lane of traffic when vehicle #1, black 2019 Honda CR-V…approached and collided into the driver’s side of the cruiser. Officer [last name] was unable to avoid the collision due to vehicle #1’s fast approach and did not stop or slow down for the cruiser’s lights and siren.”

Wu felt a minor pain in her right side after the crash but declined medical attention, the report says.

At the time of the crash, the CR-V driver — a white woman whose name was redacted in the report — had a young child in the back of her vehicle, the report says. The woman initially declined medical attention for herself and her child but later went to a hospital for an evaluation.

The officer who was driving the cruiser felt a pain in her left side after the crash and was taken to a hospital for an evaluation, the report says. She was discharged later that day.

What we learned from Mayor Wu

Boston police and the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the crash Wednesday night, but Wu spoke to reporters about it earlier in the day.

“I’m doing just fine. I’m feeling it a little bit, a little stiffness, but everyone is safe and I’m just so thankful,” she said, according to The Boston Globe.

At the time of the crash, Wu said she was going from Roslindale to a “meeting and engagement” at the Boston Public Library, the Globe reported.

“It was not an emergency yesterday where we were headed,” she reportedly said. “I know my team, and the officers who are on our detail team are of the utmost professionalism and training.”

When asked why the cruiser had its emergency lights and sirens on, the mayor told reporters that she was in the front passenger seat on her phone and “not really seeing what was happening as the lights were turned on in that intersection,” the Globe reported.

Wu said that whether a police cruiser has its lights on when transporting her is dependent on what event they are driving to, the Globe reported. The mayor said the crash is still being investigated.

“The first step is an internal review of every single incident that happens with a departmental vehicle,” she reportedly said. “And then if there are things that need to come out of that…we’re working to make sure that policies are clear and transparent.”

After the crash, the Globe reported, Wu rode in the ambulance with the SUV driver to help translate because the driver was most comfortable speaking Spanish.

What we learned from the SUV driver

WBZ-TV reported that the CR-V driver was 32-year-old Hyde Park resident Yosmery Peña.

Peña told several TV news stations Wednesday that she couldn’t see the police cruiser before the crash because the cars in the rightmost lane were obstructing her view. She also said she didn’t hear any sirens and was driving 30 mph at most.

Boston 25 News reported that audio they collected from the scene didn’t pick up any sirens, but that a former Boston police superintendent said there is no policy for how officers should drive when taking public officials to events.

Peña told news stations that she was sore but doing OK Wednesday, and that her 1-year-old son was unhurt other than a mark from the seatbelt. She reportedly credited Wu for being caring after the crash.

But Peña also told Boston 25 News that she’s a Lyft driver, which is her family’s sole source of income, but now her car is in the shop. She reportedly said she hopes the city will evaluate its policy on when it’s OK for police to drive through red lights.