Ex-Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara avoids jail time in crash, ordered to apologize to homeowner

BOSTON — Former Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara will not face jail time in connection with a crash in 2023, but she must apologize to the woman whose home she barreled into, court records show.

On Wednesday, Lara pleaded guilty in West Roxbury Municipal Court to driving with a suspended license. Judge Kathleen E. Coffey, however, dismissed charges of operating an uninsured car and permitting injury to a child.

Judge Coffey sentenced Lara, 34, to “administrative probation” and ordered her to pen a letter of apology to the homeowner, Georgia Kalogerakis, within 30 days.

Lara was driving more than double the 25 mph speed limit when she crashed her Honda sedan into a home on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain in June 2023, according to police. Investigators also said that her 7-year-old son was not adequately restrained in a booster seat, and he had to go to the hospital with injuries.

In October 2023, prosecutors agreed to drop initial charges of the reckless operation of a motor vehicle, injury to a child while driving, and speeding.

Boston police release bodycam video showing aftermath of Kendra Lara’s crash Boston Police Department

Four lengthy Boston police bodycam videos showed officers speaking with Lara in the moments after the crash and an interview with a man who claimed the councilor was driving “like a bat out of hell” before she struck a house on Centre Street on June 30.

Lara has not held a valid driver’s license since 2013, yet she “regularly” drove to work at Boston City Hall in a dark gray Honda Civic, the same make and model of the car involved in the crash, a city spokesperson previously told Boston 25. Lara denied that accusation.

Court records showed that Lara was found to be responsible for not placing a child under 8 years old and under 58 inches in a car seat. She was found not responsible for failure to wear a seatbelt and driving an unregistered motor vehicle.

The charge of negligent operation was continued without a finding.

The high-profile case negatively impacted Lara’s campaign to be reelected and degraded her perception in the community, her team said as the investigation unfolded.

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