A Boston police officer was left alone in a hostile crowd as people hurled drinks and debris at him while a dirt bike suspect broke free and escaped, according to police and the city’s largest police union.
The chaotic caught-on-camera confrontation first surfaced in a TikTok video posted by @noticiaboston. It happened around 9:24 p.m. on June 28 near Old Road and Ellington Street, where police said 100 to 150 people had flooded the area with loud music, drinking, lowriders, mopeds and dirt bikes.
Boston Police Department (BPD) Officer Jesse Kennedy had responded to a loud disturbance call and tried to disperse the crowd when he spotted a dirt bike with no rear plate, according to a police report obtained by the Boston Herald. When Kennedy approached the rider and grabbed the handlebars to check whether the bike was registered, the rider refused to get off and allegedly tried to pull away.
Video circulating on social media shows Kennedy surrounded as people appear to throw liquids, bottles and other objects while he struggles with the rider. At one point, glass can be heard smashing on the street.
“Go home,” someone yells in the video reviewed by Fox News Digital.
Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association President Larry Calderone told Fox News Digital the video shows exactly what rank-and-file officers are up against when staffing runs thin.
“He was all alone, and he had to go,” Calderone said.
Kennedy had been assigned with another officer, but Calderone said that officer had trouble reaching him because of traffic, street takeovers and pedestrians blocking the way.
“It’s a matter of minutes,” Calderone said. “It probably doesn’t sound like much to the general public, but when you’re fighting an individual in a crowd and you’re calling for help and nobody’s coming, that three minutes feels like an awful long time.”
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The union boss said BPD is “extremely short” on manpower and argued the incident was a symptom of a staffing crisis that has left officers dangerously outnumbered at the busiest time of year.
Calderone said the union is not blaming Mayor Michelle Wu, whom he credited with budgeting for and hiring roughly 100 officers a year during her time in office. Instead, he pointed to retirements, internal promotions and the City Council’s handling of police overtime.
“The blame is not with the mayor,” Calderone said. “The blame is with the City Council.”
Calderone claimed Boston’s patrol ranks remain dangerously depleted, saying prior department testimony to the City Council showed BPD was roughly 600 rank-and-file officers short. Fox News Digital has not independently verified Calderone’s staffing figures.
“Boston’s public safety data shows that the number of shootings, homicides, and other kinds of serious crimes have continued to drop and remain at historically low levels. These numbers reinforce the strong progress we’ve made over the past several years, but our work is far from done,” BPD said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Even one act of violence is too many, and we will continue building strong partnerships between our neighborhood leaders, faith leaders, community organizations, and public safety and public health officials to keep families safe and connected to opportunity. The mayor is proud to call out Boston’s reputation as the safest major city in the country, both to highlight the impact and effectiveness of these partnerships, and also to challenge all of us to share in the responsibility of setting the highest standards for safety and belonging.”
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Calderone accused some councilors of trying to “defund the police” while neighborhoods deal with street takeovers, loud late-night parties and attacks on officers trying to keep the peace.
“Why aren’t they condemning these street takeovers; these loud, noisy parties; these assaults on their police officers who are trying to keep their neighborhoods safe?” Calderone said.
The union president said Boston traditionally uses overtime to put extra officers on the street when officials know about recurring problem areas.
“For some reason, this weekend, the department did not put any extra bodies out,” he said, claiming BPD “ran below their own minimum standards,” leaving Kennedy alone in the crowd.
“Thank goodness he and no innocent bystander was hurt,” Calderone said.
The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association also blasted the viral video on X, writing that “fewer cops means less safety.”
Additional officers eventually arrived and cleared the crowd, according to the police report. The rider was not publicly identified in initial reports, and the police report did not note any arrests from the crowd.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Wu’s office, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox and City Commissioner for District 4 Brian Worrell’s office for comment.
