2 RI Teens Charged After Crowd Attacks Police Cruisers In Boston: Authorities

BOSTON — A police car was destroyed when a crowd of more than 100 people who had taken over a Boston intersection attacked law enforcement vehicles overnight in an incident that ended with two Rhode Island teens facing charges, authorities said.

Officers responded around 2:15 a.m. Sunday to Massachusetts Avenue and Tremont Street, where the crowd started throwing fireworks, cones, poles and other items at police cars, according to authorities. One cruiser was repeatedly hit with fireworks, which set it ablaze, and crowd members jumped on its hood, police said.

Several vehicles had been used to block the intersection, preventing traffic flow, but more police were dispatched and the crowd was dispersed using “department-issued equipment,” according to the Boston Police Department. Firefighters extinguished the burning cruiser, police said.

Charged in the incident were 18-year-old Julian Bowers of Cumberland and 19-year-old William Cantwell of Warwick, police said.

Bowers threw objects at police and fled officers, and was charged with malicious destruction, disorderly conduct, assault and battery of an officer, and resisting arrest, according to authorities.

Cantwell repeatedly hit a cruiser with a pole and was arrested after a struggle, police said, adding there were edibles in his bag. He was charged with malicious destruction, disorderly conduct, assault and battery of an officer, resisting arrest and Class D marijuana possession, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 617-343-4683, or, to remain anonymous, call 1-800-494-8477, text “tip” to 27463, or submit information, including photos and videos, at https://police.boston.gov/crimestoppers/.