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What exactly are the “vehicle takeovers” seen in Boston, Fall River, Middleborough, Dedham, and Randolph overnight Saturday?
Crowds of hundreds — blocking off streets for car burnouts, donuts, and racing — gathered in at least five Massachusetts communities overnight Saturday, with some groups allegedly attacking police cars and shooting off fireworks.
But, what are these so-called car meet-ups, or vehicle takeovers, and why did so many pop up in Massachusetts communities on the same weekend? Police responded to similar incidents in Boston, Fall River, Middleborough, Dedham, and Randolph overnight Saturday, according to police reports.
“As of right now, it looks like they are all connected, all the incidents, specifically the one in Boston, but also Middleborough, Westwood, Norwood, in Dedham,” Randolph Police Chief Anthony Marag told the Town Council Tuesday. “This has been going on two months in Randolph at various locations, and we have charged a few and arrested one, and now we’re trying to backtrack and put the pieces together.”
A group of vehicles drove through Norwood on Route 1, a spokesperson for the police department said. A group of 30 vehicles or more were reported in a Westwood Wegmans parking lot before police arrived and the crowd dispersed, The Boston Globe reported.
The alleged street racing group in Fall River had traveled “as a convoy” from Brockton, police said.
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox referred to the incidents as “illegal street racing,” while Governor Maura Healey called them “drag racing.” The meetups gain traction online, she told reporters Wednesday, which leads to big crowds. Part of the state’s response includes online monitoring.
“Vehicle takeovers are described as large crowds of vehicles and pedestrians blocking off roadways in order to prevent normal flow of traffic causing a disturbance so that the crowds can engage in unlawful activities such as burnouts, donuts, and illegal street racing,” the Boston police report from the South End incident said.
Car meetups reported in South End, Hyde Park, and West Roxbury
A “violent” crowd of about a hundred people in Boston’s South End early Sunday morning first made headlines after a police cruiser was set aflame and destroyed by fireworks. Two young men from Rhode Island were arrested and charged with disturbances.
After the South End incident, Boston police responded to Hyde Park at around 3 a.m. Sunday and West Roxbury at around 4:30 a.m., The Boston Globe reported. In Hyde Park, more than 100 vehicles were allegedly trespassing on private property. Cars were leaving as officers arrived and found a person on the ground who had apparently been hit by a car doing donuts, per the Globe.
In West Roxbury, police responded to a Home Depot for a report of shots fired, and officers found more than 100 people, plus vehicles, who were lighting off fireworks, according to the report obtained by the Globe. A person allegedly discharged a fire extinguisher at a police car windshield, and officers ended a foot pursuit “due to being significantly outnumbered by the crowd,” that report said.
Dedham police confirmed that groups of vehicles gathered “in two locations over Dedham’s border into Boston,” likely near West Roxbury and Hyde Park. Earlier this summer, a man was shot and killed at a car meetup in a BJ’s parking lot in Dedham, prosecutors have said. A man was charged with his murder last month.
“These overnight groups of revelers are a significant concern based on the behavior experienced,” a spokesperson for Dedham police said. “Our officers will continue to monitor and work with other agencies to maintain the peace in our community.”
Fireworks lit in Fall River, Randolph streets, police say
Overnight on Saturday, a hundred people gathered in Randolph for the same activity, police said. The people in the crowd, who were in masks and filming, “began to strike the cruisers with their fists and other objects, sit on the hoods of the cruisers as officers were attempting to drive, and lean against the bumpers as cruisers were attempting to navigate the area,” police said.
The crowd sat on a police cruiser hood and “lit fireworks off, placing the officer inside in extreme danger,” the Randolph police said.
Fall River police responded to “multiple reports of reckless driving, street racing, and blocked roadways throughout the city,” the police said in a statement, and five adults aged 22 and under were arrested. An ambulance was forced to reroute around the street racing, police said, while people wearing high visibility vests “acted as road guards” as vehicles performed burnouts and donuts.
“Many participants wore masks to conceal their identities and showed complete disregard for police presence,” Fall River police said. Fireworks were also set off in the street, the department said.
Middleborough police declined to comment, noting an investigation is active and ongoing. Fall River police and Boston police declined to release body camera footage of the incidents amid ongoing investigations.
‘We’re responding. We take action’: Trump should not send National Guard, Healey says
Healey addressed the illegal car meetups for drag racing to members of the media Wednesday, pointing specifically to the incidents in Brockton, Boston, and Fall River. Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble will work with and provide resources for local law enforcement to “identify, apprehend, and punish offenders,” Healey said.
“Do not engage with that behavior,” Healey said. “Anyone who engages in that conduct will be found and will be held accountable to the furthest extent of the law.”
When taking questions, Healey said President Donald Trump should not send the National Guard to Massachusetts, a step she called “political theater,” amid the concerning trend.
“He absolutely shouldn’t. There’s no need for that here. Here in Massachusetts, local and state law enforcement work really closely and well together,” Healey said. “Crime happens. I’m talking about a particular trend that I’m seeing here. The important thing is we’re responding. We take action.”
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