City Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey announced Tuesday that she is temporarily stepping down from the city council’s Public Safety Committee and recuse herself from matters involving the Worcester Police Department while an internal investigation examines officers’ handling of her Sept. 2 car crash.
Toomey also directly addressed questions about possible impairment for the first time, saying unequivocally that she was not impaired when her vehicle struck an unoccupied vehicle shortly after midnight.
“I was not in any way impaired and will face no charges,” Toomey said in a statement provided to the Worcester Guardian.
Toomey currently chairs the Standing Committee on Public Safety, which oversees matters involving the Police Department.
Her decision comes amid growing scrutiny of the police response to the crash and one day after the Worcester Civilian Review Board Coalition called for an independent investigation and Toomey’s removal as chair of the committee.
“In order to avoid any potential appearance of a conflict, I have decided to temporarily step down from the Public Safety Committee and recuse myself from any matter involving the Worcester Police Department until the investigation is over,” Toomey said.
“I’m doing this out of an abundance of caution and to ensure that the work of our Committee and the integrity of the Worcester Police Department remain above reproach.”
Worcester police responded at approximately 12:03 a.m. Sept. 2 after Toomey’s vehicle struck an unoccupied vehicle. Toomey was the sole occupant of her vehicle, no injuries were reported and both vehicles were towed, Worcester Police Chief of Staff and Public Information Officer Sgt. Elise Miranda previously told the Guardian.
Toomey described the second vehicle Monday as “unlawfully parked” and said she cooperated with police.
“Fortunately, nobody was injured,” Toomey said. “But to be clear, the police investigated the incident, I cooperated fully and was allowed to return to my home.”
Police Chief Paul Saucier told the Guardian that he ordered an internal investigation after learning of the crash because Toomey is a city councilor. The Bureau of Professional Standards is examining whether Toomey received preferential treatment and whether responding officers followed department policies and procedures.
Body-camera footage obtained by the Telegram & Gazette shows Toomey telling officers she “had an issue” while driving and later saying, “I was driving down the street and that’s all I remember.”
The footage also shows Toomey asking officers to call Saucier and saying she was trying to reach Worcester Police Sgt. Anthony Petrone.
Campaign finance records filed with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance show Petrone has contributed $425 to Toomey’s campaign since 2015, including $225 in 2023 and $150 in October 2025.
Saucier told the Guardian that he had no contact with Toomey during or immediately after the crash and, to his knowledge, neither Petrone nor another WPD supervisor did either. He said those questions will be formally examined as part of the internal investigation.
Neither the Telegram nor MassLive reported that responding officers administered field sobriety testing. When the Guardian asked Saucier what observations led officers to determine impairment was not suspected, he said he could not discuss their assessments while the investigation remains underway.
“Until all responding officers have been interviewed and the Bureau of Professional Standards completes the investigation, I cannot speak to their observations or assessments at the scene,” Saucier said.
Toomey’s statement Monday did not address why she asked officers to contact Saucier or why she was attempting to reach Petrone.
The Civilian Review Board Coalition on Sunday raised those questions along with concerns about the lack of field sobriety testing and portions of the body-camera footage that were muted. Giselle Rivera-Flores, speaking on the coalition’s behalf, called for an independent investigation and Toomey’s removal from the Public Safety Committee.
Toomey’s decision to temporarily step down comes one week after she voted with an 8-3 City Council majority to reject a proposal to establish an independent civilian review board for the Police Department. The debate over the board centered largely on whether Worcester’s existing police oversight mechanisms were sufficient.
The Worcester Police Department’s internal investigation remains underway. Saucier has said Bureau of Professional Standards investigations have a 90-day timeline for completion, although most conclude sooner.
The Guardian has requested the police reports and body-camera footage from the incident through the city’s public records process.
