
The North End crackdown continues with Boston Police District A-1 reporting another 22 arrests on Saturday night in the North End for underage drinking, minor trespassing and related offenses. Most of the arrests were along the waterfront at Sargent’s Wharf and the Commercial Street area, near the Fisherman’s Feast going on this weekend. The roundup comes after 21 teens were arrested on Friday night at the Gassy / DeFillipo playground and other neighborhood parks.
This weekend’s police activity is a response to resident concerns regarding recent mayhem by mostly out-of-town youths on feast weekends in the North End.
Boston Police issued the following statement:
On Saturday, August 19, 2017, between the hours of 7:45pm and 11:45pm, in response to numerous complaints from community members and neighborhood residents upset about young people drinking and disrupting, not only the feasts, but the peace and tranquility of the neighborhood, officers, under the command of District A-1 Captain Kenneth Fong, identified and apprehended those responsible for the disrespectful and disruptive behavior. Said Captain Fong, “We used our department’s social media apparatus to encourage people to be on their best behavior when attending the feasts in the North End. Clearly, those arrested either didn’t get the message or got it and chose to ignore it. Either way, the 22 individuals arrested will hopefully behave better should they decide to attend future feasts or events in the North End.”
City officials and Boston Police want to send a message to the teenagers and their parents not to come drinking in the North End parks on feast and summer weekends. The arrested teens hail from the suburbs and beyond, according to police reports. Of the 22 arrested, all were between the ages of 15 – 20 years old. Town of residence of those arrested is listed below:
Winthrop – 8
NY – 4
Lynn – 2
Lynnfield – 2
East Boston- 1
Medford – 1
Everett – 1
Peabody – 1
Unk – 2
The teen gatherings are being organized on social media. One intercepted group chat early on Saturday challenged the crackdown saying “not gonna let the feds get us” and “feasting tonight.” Teens were seen walking in large groups at Sargent’s Wharf and Commercial Street with backpacks, presumably filled with alcoholic beverages.
Previous weekends have shown hundreds of teenagers gathering along the Commercial Street ball fields, Langone Park, Sargents Wharf and Christopher Columbus Park. Earlier this week, Boston Police met with local officials and issued multiple warnings that more aggressive action would be taken. Boston Police Capt. Fong issued a statement saying that police presence will be stepped up and warning that unruly behavior, fighting and underage drinking will not be tolerated. BPD encouraged residents to report all public safety issues to 911 where they can be dispatched to on-site officers.
8/20/17 Update: This post was updated with the BPDNews.com statement and residence list of those arrested.
One more Feast weekend. One more weekend until most go back to school. Thank you BPD for really reigning it in. We appreciate this!
Very happy no one got seriously injured on all sides !!!!