WORCESTER, Mass. — Worcester police are investigating whether department policies were followed after City Councilor Kathleen Toomey crashed into an unoccupied parked car.
The crash happened just after midnight on Sept. 2 on Harrington Way.
Body camera video obtained by Boston 25 shows officers speaking with Toomey after the crash.
“So where you coming from?” an officer asks.
“Um, I was at a restaurant,” Toomey responds.
Despite the crash, officers at the scene did not conduct a field sobriety test on Toomey, and the body camera video doesn’t show officers asking her whether she had been drinking.
The Worcester Police Chief says that decision is now under active review.
The Worcester Police Department opened an internal investigation the same day to determine whether officers followed department policies and whether Toomey received any preferential treatment.
Body camera footage shows both vehicles sustained significant damage and had to be towed from the scene.
An officer also asked Toomey whether someone could pick her up.
The officer tells her the car will have to be towed because it cannot be driven.
At another point, Toomey asks officers if she can call the police chief.
Toomey did not attend Tuesday’s Worcester City Council meeting in person. She participated virtually instead.
She also released a statement about the crash.
Toomey said she struck an illegally parked car on Sept. 2 and that police investigated the incident before allowing her to go home.
“I was not in any way impaired and will face no charges,” Toomey said in the statement.
Toomey also said she will temporarily step down from the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.
She said the move is intended to allow her to recuse herself from matters involving the police department while the internal investigation continues.
The mayor has appointed another councilor to replace Toomey on her committees.
The police chief said the internal investigation has a 90-day deadline, although such investigations typically are completed sooner.
The investigation will determine whether officers followed department procedures and whether Toomey received preferential treatment during the response to the crash.
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