By Namu Sampath
masslive.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Springfield police officer is suing an allegedly drugged city driver who pinned him against a car at an accident scene, according to court documents.
Luis Rojas, the city police officer, claims he suffered extensive injuries stemming from the incident in January 2025, according to his lawsuit, filed last Monday in Hampden Superior Court . In the suit, he says driver Jennifer Poulin allegedly tried to evade first responders who were attempting to rescue her after an accident in a Sumner Avenue parking lot.
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On Jan. 24, 2025, Rojas said that he responded to the lot on Sumner Avenue for a 911 report of the accident involving a gold Lexus with a Connecticut registration number and another unoccupied parked vehicle, the suit said.
Poulin, of Springfield, was in “apparent medical distress,” according to the call. But when first responders tried rescuing Poulin, she “suddenly placed the vehicle into reverse and backed toward a Springfield Fire Department vehicle, causing all emergency personnel to scramble out of the way,” the suit alleges.
It’s alleged that she quickly put the car in drive and crashed into a number of parked vehicles, and while attempting to flee the scene, struck Rojas, pinning him between her Lexus and another parked vehicle.
Poulin was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly committing assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of cocaine and methamphetamine, leaving the scene of personal injury, leaving the scene of property damage, and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs, according to the suit.
Poulin stopped showing up for court, a violation of her probation, and as of October, she has a warrant out for her arrest, according to the criminal court docket.
Rojas claims he will continue to suffer severe and permanent injuries, as well as more than $2,000 in financial losses because of medical expenses.
“The litigation against Ms. Poulin has just commenced,” said A.J. O’Donald III, the Holyoke attorney representing Rojas on Monday afternoon. “My client has faced catastrophic injuries and has been out of work since this incident; quite frankly, it is unclear if he can ever go back.”
An attorney for Poulin is not listed in the docket.
Rojas is requesting a jury trial.
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