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4d ago

2 Rhode Island Teens Arraigned After Boston Police Cruiser Set Ablaze in South End Takeover

The case highlights coordinated car meetups organized online that police say cross jurisdictions to overwhelm response.

Several police vehicles sit by the intersection of Northeast 148th Avenue and Halsey Street on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Police had stopped the driver of a silver Audi sedan, who fled from officers working a street takeover mission and took them into Vancouver and back into Portland.
Fire engulfs a police cruiser at Mass Ave. and Tremont Street Sunday morning during a police response to a drag racing street takeover, October 5, 2025. (Video still courtesy External Affairs Porter)
The Boston Police headquarters, in Boston, on June 9, 2021.
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Overview

  • Julian Bowers, 18, and William Cantwell, 19, pleaded not guilty in Roxbury District Court, with bail set at $500 and $1,000 respectively and GPS monitoring ordered, according to CBS Boston.
  • Cantwell and Bowers face charges including malicious destruction of property over $1,200, disorderly conduct, assault and battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest; Cantwell also faces a marijuana possession charge.
  • Police say more than 100 people blocked the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Tremont Street around 2:12 a.m. as fireworks, poles, and other objects struck marked cruisers, igniting one that the Boston Fire Department extinguished.
  • Investigators are reviewing video and logging seized items as evidence, and officials including Mayor Michelle Wu, Commissioner Michael Cox, DA Kevin Hayden, and Gov. Maura Healey vowed full accountability; police reported no officer injuries.
  • Authorities linked the South End attack to a regional spate of takeovers, noting a similar 1:30 a.m. incident in Randolph that targeted cruisers and a separate confrontation in Middleborough under state police review.