Groups Of Up To 100 Gather In Shopping Plazas: Westborough PD

WESTBOROUGH, MA — A parking lot party with about 100 people gathered was broken up on Sunday, and police say it wasn't the first one.

Westborough police said they have received several calls for noise complaints over the past few weekends between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Usually, officers find a large group of about 100 people gathered around 40 or 50 cars behind the old Regal Cinema in Stagecoach Plaza. Each time police show up, the gathering is quickly dispersed, according to police.

Just before 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, police received a similar call for a noise complaint behind Target. Another large crowd was gathered and quickly dispersed when they spotted the police, but reconvened at Burlington Coat Factory inside Speedway Plaza.

When officers broke up the gathering again, one of the cars sped off in an "erratic manner" according to police, leading officers on a chase. When officers tried to stop the car, it weaved in between other cars in the plaza to try to lose the police. When the car was finally stopped, police arrested the two 21-year-olds inside. The pair is facing several traffic charges and open container law charges.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, outdoor gatherings in enclosed spaces are limited to 25 percent of the facility’s maximum permitted occupancy, with a maximum of 50 people in a single enclosed outdoor space. But Outdoor gatherings in unenclosed spaces are not subject to capacity limitations.