The St. Paul City Council approved a $45,000 settlement Wednesday to a driver who was struck by a squad car that was traveling up to 70 mph before the crash in 2009.

The officer, Michele Giampolo, was criminally charged in the case. She was on duty, but running a personal errand and not responding to an emergency call at the time of the collision.

The driver, Elisea Cervantes Anzures, was hospitalized with bumps, bruises and fractures to her ribs and pelvis, police said at the time.

Anzures, now 56, filed suit against the city and Giampolo, alleging the officer “drove in a negligent manner.”

The city, while denying liability, agreed to settle because they recognize Anzures “sustained significant injuries from an accident involving a city vehicle,” said City Attorney Lyndsey Olson.

The city attorney’s office did not represent Giampolo in the lawsuit and her personal insurance company agreed to pay $50,000 to Anzures, Olson said.

Anzures’ vehicle was struck by Giampolo’s squad car at 12:45 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2009. Anzures was driving east on Third Street Street and the officer was heading south on Mounds Boulevard.

Giampolo, whose last name at the time was Ward, braked before the crash and her speed at impact was estimated at 35 mph, according to the criminal complaint charging her with two misdemeanors at 2010.

About 45 minutes before the crash, Giampolo requested to leave her patrol district on a “personal matter” and was allowed to do so, the complaint said. Giampolo left the city to get keys for her fiancé, then-Police Chief Thomas Smith wrote in a discipline letter.

Smith wrote to the officer that she had been traveling 70 mph in a 30-mph zone “for no emergency or law enforcement reason. This is clearly the use of extremely poor judgement on your part and reckless driving conduct.” He suspended Giampolo for 25 days.

Immediately after the crash, Giampolo used her cellphone to reach her fiancé — an off-duty St. Paul officer who she is now married to — who advised her to call her supervisor, Smith wrote in the discpline letter.

Giampolo radioed to ask for a case number for a crash, but didn’t tell the dispatcher it was a squad crash and there were injuries, Smith wrote. Her supervisor arrived less than two minutes later, found Anzures “trapped and injured” in her vehicle and called for paramedics, the letter continued.

Both drivers reported they had a green light at the time of the crash, according to the complaint. Smith wrote to Giampolo that she “did not have control of the intersection” at the time.

In 2010, Giampolo entered an Alford plea, meaning she maintained her innocence while acknowledging the state likely had enough evidence to convict her, “to duty to drive with due care — speed greater than reasonable.” A charge of careless driving was dismissed.

In a filing in the lawsuit, attorneys for Giampolo argued the city was required to defend her, saying she “was acting in the performance of her duties as a police officer at the time” and there was no allegation the crash was intentional. Her attorney could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

But the city attorney’s office said state requirements “for defense and indemnification … could not be met due to (the officer’s) conduct at the time of the accident,” according to a judge’s summary in a court order.

Giampolo, who started on the St. Paul police force as a parking enforcement officer in 2002 and became a police officer in 2007, has been disciplined four times for preventable crashes, including receiving a one-day suspension, a written reprimand and an oral reprimand.

In February 2013, Giampolo went through a red light and collided with a vehicle that had the right of way, though she reported she believed she had a green light, according to a letter from Smith. Smith suspended her for two days, which was reduced to a written reprimand after two years with “no same or similar actions,” Smith wrote.

She is now assigned to the department’s juvenile unit.