‘People were going to get hit’: Police respond to dozens of reports of drag racing in the Back Bay

BOSTON — Boston police responded to dozens of reports of vehicles that were seen drag racing and doing burnouts in the city’s Back Bay neighborhood early Sunday morning.

Officers responded to the intersection of Dartmouth and Marlborough Streets shortly before 2:15 a.m. to investigate 911 calls of illegal motor vehicle activity, police said.

According to the police report, multiple BPD units and State Police troopers made their way to the area after officers were informed by a dispatcher that a caller stated there were “approximately 40 individuals yelling and about 15 vehicles driving up and down the roads the wrong way in the area of Dartmouth and Marlborough streets.”

The dispatcher also informed the responding officers that the caller stated the vehicles were doing donuts, drag racing, and racing up and down Commonwealth Ave, according to the report.

Police said about 30 calls were made to 911 reporting the incident.

“They were just driving in circles skidding… making a lot of smoke with the tires. It really looked like people were going to get hit,” said neighbor Rich Blanco.

Blanco says he believes he saw someone get struck while he recorded the large crowd of spectators gathering around for the ‘drag racing event.’

“It was really scary. Someone was climbing up on the lamppost and watching from above. Every corner was occupied,” said Blanco.

Back Bay Drag Racing (Ben Ashman)

When officers arrived in the area they were unable to make it to the intersection of Marlborough and Exeter streets due to a multitude of vehicles along Commonwealth Avenue, so the officers had to park their cruisers and make their way to the intersection on foot.

The police report says officers saw large groups of people gathering around at least three intersections along Marlborough Street with multiple vehicles facing the wrong way on one-way streets while other vehicles were doing burnouts and donuts.

Officers gave multiple verbal commands to vacate the area, and then saw a glass bottle and fireworks thrown in their direction as they attempted to reopen the road, the police report states.

Throughout the entire incident, officers saw individuals with “professional-looking cameras” recording the illegal motor vehicle activities, according to police report.

The police report states that officers saw 41 parked vehicles blocking the roadway in the surrounding area in the Back Bay.

A Boston police officer issued five parking violations that were double-parked on Commonwealth Avenue.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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