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Now that bars and clubs are closed and normal gatherings can only have a limited number of guests, parking lot parties that skirt the law have become popular. They are gatherings of large groups, usually 50-100 people, in the early morning hours between 1 and 3 a.m. in a large, empty parking lot.
In Westborough, police said they have been receiving numerous calls over the last several weeks from people reporting loud noise and the sounds of a party.
Locally, police said the hot spot is behind the old Regal Cinema in Stagecoach Plaza.
“Each time officers arrive there have been about 100 people gathering and around 40-50 vehicles,” Westborough Police said. “They leave quickly upon seeing us.”
On Sunday, Sept. 6, police made an arrest in connection with the parking lot parties.
Westborough Police received a report around 1:22 a.m. of a noise complaint from behind Target. The alleged revelers took off when they saw police, then regrouped at the Burlington Coat Factory inside the Speedway Plaza, police said.
When officers went to disperse the crowd again, a vehicle took off in an “erratic” manner, police said. Officers chased the vehicle through the plaza. Eventually, the vehicle stopped and two men were arrested, police said:
Nichollas Silva, 21, Saugus, has been charged with speeding, failure to stop for a police officer, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle;
Vinicius Bastos, 21, Saugus, has been charged with an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, and town by-law violation of an open container of alcohol, police said.
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