The family of a Brookline woman who died this year after being hit by a Massachusetts State Police cruiser has sued the police department, saying the trooper who was driving was being negligent.

Margie Mendez was walking in Chestnut Hill while out running errands at about 1:15 p.m. on Jan. 15, two days before her 86th birthday, when the crash occurred, MassLive previously reported. She was in the crosswalk at the intersection of Boylston and Hammond Streets when the cruiser struck her, causing her to fall and hit her head.

Police said at the time that the car was moving at “a very low speed” and Mendez was conscious and alert when she was brought to the hospital.

Her family, however, said that she was in “critical condition” and had received skull and rib fractures, a broken ankle a

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