Methuen police issue 15 citations in one night related to noise complaints

Allison Corneau, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·3 min read

Oct. 16—METHUEN — Residents of the city's west side should see a noticeable difference in noise levels after Methuen police broke up a large gathering of out-of-town motorists who were trespassing and disturbing the peace earlier this week.

Fifteen $250 trespassing citations were handed out and one disturbing the peace arrest was made early Monday morning after several 911 calls for loud music came into the dispatch center.

"The participants believe the anonymity of the group will provide them the cover they need to engage in lawlessness without sanction. That will not be the case in Methuen, as quality of life issues will be a top priority moving forward," Chief Scott McNamara said after his team responded to complaints centered in the area of Griffin Brook Drive.

Police said the activity follows a pattern over the past several months plaguing not only Methuen but several Merrimack Valley cities. Noise complaints are generated from large gatherings of motor vehicles in parking lots, with some cars outfitted with commercial grade audio systems, according to police. As a result, music played from those systems can be heard for miles and in all directions, making the gatherings hard to detect.

During this latest incident, officers initially believed music was coming from Andover and tracked it to Lawrence before finally breaking it up in Methuen.

According to a police report on the incident, Lawrence police let Methuen officers know they had broken up a large gathering of vehicles on Broadway in their city just before 1:30 a.m. Nearly an hour later, Methuen Officer Shawn Tardif located several cars behind 55 Chase St., Methuen, but once Tardif made his presence known, the vehicles dispersed.

Using coordinated efforts by Officers Tardif, David Souther and Brandon LaFlamme and the dispatch team receiving 911 calls for loud music, a gathering was finally broken up on Griffin Brook Drive. That location — a marked "no trespassing" location — is an area known for loud music parties, police said.

As one officer arrived at 500 Griffin Brook Drive and the people and cars in the area started to scatter, another officer radioed the license plate numbers back to the dispatch center as the drivers drove past his cruiser, according to the incident report.

Calvin Diaz, 35, of Randolph, was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, police said. Officer Souther reported the rear seats of the Honda Odyssey van Diaz was driving had been removed and a commercial grade stereo system installed in their place. Diaz was also issued a parking ticket for parking in front of a fire hydrant and citation for trespassing with a motor vehicle.

Speaking to police, Diaz said he ate dinner in Lawrence before following cars to Griffin Brook Drive. Diaz also told police events like the one Monday were arranged on social media, the report said.

McNamara said the department has made noise complaints a priority to maximize residents' quality of life.

"The goal of these gatherings is to intentionally disturb the peace and tranquility of average everyday citizens who simply want to get a good night's rest and get ready for the following day," the chief said. "I could not be more pleased with the efforts of each of the officers involved in this operation as they clearly sent the message that there will be a price to pay for disturbing others in the city of Methuen."