# Albuquerque Pays Nearly $1 Million to a Man Who Was Critically Injured When Its Police Chief Ran a Red Light

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/albuquerque-pays-nearly-1-million-to-a-man-who-was-critically-injured-when-its-police-chief-ran-a-red-light/
- Published: 2026-11-11T16:30:09+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-11T17:41:18+00:00
- Original publisher: Reason (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://reason.com/2026/11/11/albuquerque-pays-nearly-1-million-to-a-man-who-was-critically-injured-when-its-police-chief-ran-a-red-light/
- Topics: Politics

## Key points

- Albuquerque will pay $950,000 to settle Perchert’s lawsuit.
- The crash left him with serious injuries and ongoing mobility effects.
- Police reviews disagreed over whether the collision was preventable.

## Summary

Albuquerque has agreed to pay Todd Perchert $950,000 to settle a lawsuit over a 2024 crash in which then police chief Harold Medina drove through a red light and hit Perchert’s car. Perchert was badly injured, and the settlement follows conflicting assessments within the police department over whether the collision could have been prevented.

Medina said he was rushing to leave a gunfire-related altercation and believed the intersection was clear, but surveillance footage showed another driver had to brake to avoid him. Perchert, then 55, suffered eight broken ribs, a collapsed lung and other injuries, requiring seven hours of surgery and weeks in hospital; his lawyer says the injuries still affect his daily life. The department’s crash review board called the collision non-preventable, while an internal affairs investigator said Medina’s driving was unsafe.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.