Injured driver in crash involving APD police chief says his life has been turned 'upside down'

Todd Perchert said he was cruising up Route 66 in his ’66 gold Mustang, a family heirloom. The February sky was clear, the air was cool and the traffic light ahead — a solid green.

The 55-year-old said he didn’t notice the fight, or hear the ensuing gunshot, that led the Albuquerque police chief to step on the gas at a red light.

All of a sudden, Perchert said, the grill of Harold Medina’s truck slammed into his driver’s side in a spray of shattered glass and a shriek of twisted metal.

Now, after a seven-hour surgery and lengthy hospital stay, Perchert has titanium plates across his rib cage, stitch marks piecing his ear together and deformed bones in his upper arm.

Perchert said he is in constant pain, and the incident “turned our lives upside down.”

On Wednesday, attorney James Tawney said he is representing Perchert in a lawsuit against the city of Albuquerque.

Tawney said they are seeking compensation for Perchert’s injuries and the “damage he is going to have for the rest of his life.”

“There is no amount of money that will put him back in the place that he was before this crash,” Tawney said, when asked if they had a specific number in mind.

Tawney said another thing they are asking for is accountability.

“We don’t know what (Medina) was doing, why he’s there, why he felt the need to pull over with his wife in the car ... and basically cause this chain of events,” he said.

Albuquerque Police Department officials have said Medina was on his way to a news conference Feb. 17 when he stopped to call for officers to clear a homeless encampment near Alvarado and Central.

Police said Medina — who was in an unmarked police truck with his wife — was stopped at a red light when a scuffle broke out between two men on the sidewalk.

When that fight led a man to fire a gun near Medina's truck, according to police, Medina sped through the red light and crashed into Perchert.

Medina and his wife were unharmed.

Medina passed a breath and drug test and requested an internal investigation into the crash, partly due to his not having his lapel camera on, a policy violation.

The incident led some city councilors to blast the police chief’s actions and request an investigation into the crash by the Multi-Agency Task Force, composed of different law enforcement agencies and tasked with investigating police shootings and other critical incidents.

Tawney also questioned why APD, and not an outside agency, is investigating the crash. In the aftermath, he said more should have been done by city and police officials to see how Perchert was recovering.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Medina tried to visit Perchert in the hospital but was told the family didn’t want to see him.

A spokeswoman for Tawney’s law office said the Percherts “were only informed an unidentified officer was trying to visit them, and on the advice of their attorney, they did not communicate with he or she.”

In response to several questions, Gallegos said, “We’re glad to see Mr. Perchert is recovering from his injuries.”

“Because the internal investigation is ongoing, we’re not going to speculate about the outcome,” he said in a statement. “A crash review board will determine whether the crash was preventable, and the Internal Affairs investigation will determine whether policies were followed during the entire incident.”

Gallegos said Eric Garcia, the superintendent of police reform, will decide “whether discipline is required, based on those findings.”

Ava Montoya, a spokeswoman for the city of Albuquerque, said “We are grateful to see Mr. Perchert doing well, and wish him a continued strong recovery.”

“We are confident in the ongoing internal investigation by the Office of the Superintendent to evaluate the incident,” she said.

Montoya said Mayor Tim Keller reached out and left a voicemail “to check in with the family, express concern, offer well wishes for Mr. Perchert’s recovery, and offer help if there was anything we could do.”

During a Wednesday news conference at Tawney’s law office, Perchert’s wife Danielle said she got the voicemail but didn’t recall what Keller said.

“In my mind he was doing his official thing that you’re supposed to do, reaching out to say sorry,” she said.

Todd and Danielle Perchert said they were upset to see Keller praising Medina directly after the crash, saying the chief was “out on the front line ... doing what he can to make our city safe.”

“This is above and beyond what you expect from a chief and I’m grateful for Harold Medina,” Keller said during the Feb. 17 news conference. “... Whether it’s our city or the individuals that he helped, or potentially the lives that he saved because of the shooting that was happening — we all owe him a debt of gratitude today and every day, but especially this Saturday morning.”

Danielle Perchert said Wednesday that Keller’s praise of Medina “made me sick.”

“My husband’s injuries, due to the chief’s reckless disregard for the lives and safety of others, were secondary and blown off as of no concern by the APD spokesperson and the mayor,” she said. “... That behavior is not to be praised.”

Perchert said Medina and Keller could be seen smiling and hugging at the scene in one news report and, at some point, two officers could be seen opening the hood of the classic Mustang “checking out the engine like they were at a car show.”

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing,” she said.

Todd Perchert said the car was totaled by the insurance company, and he isn’t sure if he will try to fix it. He said he hasn’t driven much since the crash.

“But when I do, I’m more cautious and look around more,” Perchert said. “When I see a car or truck creeping towards an intersection we’re going through, I’m definitely watching to make sure they don’t pull out.”