An off-duty Boston police officer spotted a wanted man crossing the street near Metropolitan Avenue in Roslindale on Friday, setting off a foot chase that ended with officers finding him hiding in bushes behind a Wellsmere Road home and recovering a loaded handgun with 13 rounds. Javeon Phillips, 23, of Roxbury, was taken into custody after shedding his clothes mid-chase in an apparent attempt to shake pursuing officers.
According to the Boston Police Department, the off-duty officer saw Phillips attempting to cross the street at the intersection of Washington Street and Metropolitan Avenue and recognized that he had an active warrant. When officers moved in near 49 Metropolitan Avenue to stop him, Phillips fled on foot as they approached, kicking off a pursuit that wound through the Roslindale neighborhood. Members of the department’s Youth Violence Strike Force joined the chase and lost sight of him in the area of Wellsmere Road.
Officers soon located a pile of discarded clothing near 3 Denton Terrace, apparently shed by Phillips as he tried to slip away unnoticed. The search for him intensified from there, drawing on one of the department’s newest tools.
New Drone Program Helps Corner the Suspect
Boston police credited their brand-new Drone as First Responder program with helping locate Phillips, who was found hiding in bushes behind 65-67 Wellsmere Road. The department launched the pilot program on the very same day as the chase, partnering with Motorola Solutions and BRINC to send FAA-certified, officer-piloted drones ahead of ground units to 911 calls and ShotSpotter alerts. That timing made this pursuit one of the earliest operational tests of the new aerial fleet, which was rolled out specifically to improve officer safety and help units navigate the city’s streets more quickly…