Boston South End Takeover: Cruiser Destroyed, 2 Arrested

Early Sunday around 2:10 a.m., Boston police say a large-scale vehicle takeover at Massachusetts Avenue and Tremont Street in the South End drew roughly 100 people who used vehicles to block the intersection and attacked marked police cruisers with fireworks, cones, poles and other objects. Officers reported people jumped on the hood of one cruiser; that cruiser was struck by fireworks, caught fire, firefighters extinguished the blaze and the vehicle was later destroyed, and police said no officers were injured. Two Rhode Island men — 18-year-old Julian Bowers of Cumberland and 19-year-old William Cantwell of Warwick — were arrested and face charges including malicious destruction of property over $1,200, disorderly conduct, assault and battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest; police said Cantwell was found with two packages of cannabis edibles. Police Commissioner Michael Cox and Mayor Michelle Wu condemned the “outside individuals” they say brought disorder into the city and vowed prosecutions. Investigators are reviewing video and other evidence, are not ruling out further arrests, and said a similar takeover in Randolph around 1:30 a.m. involving about 100 masked people setting off fireworks on cruiser hoods is under investigation.