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8-15-2025 12:49am
911 Dispatch Flooded with Calls about 100+ Lowrider Cars Spinning Tires, "Racing" in Westwood
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Westwood’s emergency 911 dispatchers were flooded with calls in the early morning of Saturday, August 9th, as the result of a gathering of people in over 100 cars, described looking like “beat-up lowriders,” that were spinning tires and doing donuts around 12:45 a.m. in the parking lot of Wegmans supermarket on University Avenue, say Westwood Police.
On August 9th, four Westwood Police cruisers along with state police responded to the Westwood Wegmans parking lot and found an estimated over 100 vehicles, their drivers and occupants. Callers had described a disturbance from cars "racing." However, Westwood Police Detective Lieutenant Christopher Aylward describes the scene that he observed as made up of young people, estimated to be aged 16 to 36, who were dancing, jumping into cars that had been modified to look like lowriders, and cars doing donuts and spinning tires in the parking lot.
When law enforcement arrived, the vehicles attempted to leave, but there were so many that they caused a back-up, says Det. Lt. Aylward. He describes how he was able to take advantage of one vehicle that was blocked by other vehicles from exiting. He approached the stopped vehicle and issued its young driver – whom he recalls was around 18 to 19 years old - a citation for driving a car with an impermissible modification to ride height, and having no inspection sticker.
Det. Lt. Aylward believes that state troopers also issued a number of citations. Another suspect was stopped, but is believed to have been an employee of Wegmans.
Westwood appears to have been the first stop in a several hours long, early morning event for the gathering's many participants. After the lowriders left Westwood, they were tracked to Walpole, where they made a similar stop at the Walpole Mall. They then continued to Boston, Revere, and Everett. It was around 3:00 a.m. when police in the area of Everett responded, says Det. Lt. Aylward.
Det. Lt. Aylward says police believe the incident is similar to gatherings that have recently occurred in the local area, including in Newton in early August and likely one in June in Dedham that turned into a homicide investigation.
According to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, around 3:30 a.m. on June 25th, Dedham Police responded to multiple 911 calls and discovered 20-year-old Jaylani Cole of Brockton in the parking lot of BJ's Wholesale Club on Providence Highway. He was suffering from gunshot wounds and was later pronounced deceased at an area hospital.
A second shooting victim in the Dedham incident was another 20-year-old man, says the district attorney’s office. The victim was transported to a hospital and was expected to recover from his injuries.
No violence was reported at the Westwood gathering on August 9. Nor was any violence reported at the gathering in Newton on August 2nd. As described by Newton Police, the cars that gathered in Newton Centre were driving erratically, street racing, and burning tires. They called the driving behavior "dangerous," but no injuries appear to have been suffered.
This type of gathering of young people and their vehicles is known to occur from time to time, says Det. Lt. Aylward. Newton Police note that such driving behavior does not happen often in the area. The car that Det. Lt. Aylward approached to issue a citation was owned by an Everett resident, driven by a Framingham resident, and had a resident of Marlborough as passenger. In other such gatherings, Det. Lt. Aylward notes that the suspects are often from urban areas. The gatherings can bring rival gang members face to face, creating chance for conflict, which he says may have happened in Dedham several weeks ago when two gunshot victims were found.
Det. Lt. Aylward notes such gatherings present a challenging situation for police to address. “It’s like a lion going after a herd of zebras,” he says, referencing the relatively smaller number of law enforcement available to respond to such a large group of offenders.
The arrival of law enforcement also tends to scatter the group participants. Det. Lt. Aylward notes that just 15 minutes after Westwood Police began its response, most of the offenders had left the area. One vehicle's occupant(s) fled, leaving the car in the parking lot, but appear to have returned to drive it away about half an hour later, said Lt. Aylward.
He says groups like this are organized on social media platforms like Instagram, where coordinators post a meeting date, time, and location. They restrict access to their social channels, so law enforcement does not have the opportunity to know ahead of time when such gatherings will occur. Additionally, within about 20 minutes of announcing plans to gather, the organizers tend to delete the posting. After holding their event, the participants will post their photos to social media.
Updated 8/15/2025 at 9:46 p.m.
