Audio recordings of 911 calls to New Brunswick police obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York show that city's fire director, Robert Rawls, did not try to call the 911 operators after he ran through a crosswalk and struck three children May 7.
"Emergency, emergency, I need an ambulance on Livingston, on Livingston right now," said the first caller that afternoon. "Someone just got hit by a car."
Fire Director Robert Rawls, 56, has been issued two citations for the accident, the 19th accident he's been involved in since he first got his license roughly 40 years ago. He was in a city vehicle when he hit them, officials said.
While the three children are all home now, New Brunswick officials have been struggling with what to do with Rawls, noting that according to police reports, many of the accidents were not his fault.
Nonetheless, before this accident, as NBC 4 New York also first reported, Rawls had nine adjudicated violations on his MVC record, along with 18 license suspensions.
New Brunswick city spokeswoman Jennifer Bradshaw revealed to NBC 4 New York that Rawls is currently banned from driving a city vehicle, and while he is at work, he is prohibited from any driving personal vehicle whatsoever, meaning he must be driven by a fire department employee to meetings and events.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey motor Vehicle Commission says the agency is still awaiting a recommendation from the Middlesex Prosecutor for a re-evaluation of Rawls' drivers license.
If the MVC agrees, that typically would mean he would have to retake the driving portion or the written part of the test, or both.
Rawls was not available for comment, but in the past simply expressed concern for the kids, without commenting any further.
