On Feb. 17, Todd Perchert called 911.
He’d just been hit by a black truck at the intersection of Alvarado Drive NE and Central Avenue. He was driving his gold 1966 Ford Mustang — which was his uncle’s and his dad’s before his.
Struggling to talk, Perchert told the 911 operator that he had been in an accident and that he was stuck in his vehicle.
He was in so much pain from his injuries — a broken clavicle, a broken scapula, eight broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a large laceration on his left ear — that he eventually held his phone up in the air with his “good arm” and a bystander took it from him.
That’s when Chief Harold Medina got on the line, telling the operator “we’re trying to get him rescue,” confirming that shots had been fired nearby and asking about ShotSpotter in the area.
Medina also called 911 to report the crash, telling the operator that he’d been in a crash but wasn’t injured, that shots had been fired, and that he was OK.
City Desk ABQ received these and other 911 calls from the crash in response to an Inspection of Public Records Act request.
The crash and Medina’s conduct is under investigation. A measure to have it investigated by outside agencies failed to pass the City Council.
The crash
On the morning of the crash, Medina was on his way to a press conference with his wife in his truck. He later said it was the weekend after Valentine’s Day and he wanted to take his wife out to celebrate because he’d been out of town on the holiday.
That’s when, Medina said, he noticed a fight at an encampment at the intersection of Central Avenue and Alvarado Drive NE.
As Medina began to radio in the fight, he reported hearing his wife yell, “gun! gun!” before a shot rang out.
After the shot was fired, Medina said he evaluated the situation for a second before driving into the intersection because he was worried about his wife. Medina said he looked left and thought the intersection was clear.
Video from a nearby security camera shows Medina’s truck drive through the intersection and crash into Perchert’s Ford Mustang while the two people involved in the altercation run in opposite directions.
That same morning, Perchert planned to take his gold Ford Mustang to a Rio Grande Mustang Club meetup at the Atomic Museum. He had a little extra time so he decided to take it to the Route 66 Diner for photos in front of some vintage road signs.
Perchert said at a press conference last week that he recalls looking at the green light before going through the intersection.
“Then all of a sudden I saw a black truck come out of nowhere and slam into me on the driver’s side — the grill was mostly what I saw, and I remember the sound quite well. It was so fast I don’t think I had time to brace,” he said.
“You should call 911”
After the crash, Perchert said he opened his eyes and looked through the front windshield to see that he was facing the wrong way.
“My foot was on the brake, but the car was still rolling backwards and the engine had died,” he said.
As his car came to a stop, Perchert said a woman stepped toward him and told him to call 911, which he did.
Perchert said that’s when the pain hit him.
“I was leaning over the center console,” he said. “Another woman came over and said I was bleeding. While trying to talk with the emergency operator, I couldn’t breathe, making it difficult to talk so I handed my phone to a bystander — I couldn’t see who, I just held it up with my good arm.”
While he was waiting for paramedics to come to rescue him, Perchert said he looked down and realized that even though everything inside the car had been strewn about during the crash his Bible — that he kept in the center console — was propping him up.
“When the ambulance showed up they couldn’t open the driver’s side door so they had to pull me out through the passenger door — the pain was excruciating,” he said.
Once he was out of the vehicle, Perchert was taken to a local trauma center, where he had a chest tube placed in his side to keep fluid from filling up around his collapsed left lung. He underwent a seven-hour surgery where doctors placed titanium plates on all but his top two ribs. He had an epidural painkiller and was in the hospital for a week.
“I am in constant pain since the crash,” Perchert, who leads an active lifestyle with his wife, said during the press conference.
Calls flood in
Immediately after the crash, several people called to report it.
“Hi, I was just driving on Central toward San Mateo going westbound, and on Central, there was an accident. I just wanted to record it. I have nothing to do with it,” one woman said.
The crash, she said, was in front of the O’Reilly Auto Parts.
“Some guy ran a red light on Central and just completely ran straight into this car,” she said.
In another call, a man tells the operator that law enforcement was involved and that he “knows that officer.”
“There was an accident on Central and Alvarado and an officer of the law was involved. You should get here quickly,” the caller stated.
In harm’s way
When Perchert found out the person who hit him was the police chief he was shocked and confused, he told City Desk ABQ in an email.
“The person who should be upholding the public’s safety, put himself, his wife, the other drivers and me in harm’s way by fleeing,” he said.
Perchert told City Desk ABQ that he wants to know why Medina violated department policy and that he would like Medina to be held accountable for his actions and for the City of Albuquerque to enforce the laws. Perchert is being represented by attorney James Tawney, with Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, and has filed a tort claims notice, which typically precedes a lawsuit.
Gilbert Gallegos, an APD spokesperson, said the Internal Affairs investigation into this incident is ongoing.
“Internal Affairs investigators will determine which policies apply to this incident. It appears the lawyer is making assumptions,” he said.
Perchert said the City of Albuquerque can give him a measure of justice by acknowledging the mistakes made — and by preventing them from happening again.
“While I recognize that I will never be made whole through compensation, I have medical bills, expenses, and permanent losses that I’m asking to be paid for,” he said.
As for Perchert’s beloved car, it’s now in the junkyard.