Early Tuesday morning, July 15, 2025, officers assigned to District B-2 (Roxbury) arrested 23-year-old Francis Villar of Dorchester and a 16-year-old male following a pursuit of a stolen vehicle that ended near 2990 Washington Street in Roxbury. A loaded firearm was recovered at the scene.
At approximately 2:00 AM, officers were stopped at the intersection of Walnut Avenue and Crawford Street when they observed a Hyundai sedan traveling in the opposite direction with license plates registered to a different vehicle. Officers turned around to initiate a traffic stop as the vehicle continued down Walnut Avenue toward Townsend Street. The Hyundai then accelerated at a high rate of speed toward Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and officers temporarily lost sight of it.
The vehicle was located minutes later at Highland and Marcella Streets, where officers activated their emergency lights and sirens. The Hyundai failed to stop and continued onto Centre Street, where it struck a curb and blew out its front left tire. Officers notified operations of the vehicle’s refusal to stop and provided real-time updates on its direction of travel.
The pursuit ended when the Hyundai crashed onto the front lawn of a business at 2990 Washington Street. Three occupants fled the vehicle on foot, prompting officers to pursue each suspect in different directions.
One officer observed the front passenger, later identified as the 16-year-old male, flee toward a nearby building where he briefly became entangled in bushes. After freeing himself and jumping two fences, he was apprehended in the rear of the building.
Simultaneously, another officer chased the second suspect, later identified as Francis Villar, who had fled with the third suspect toward the opposite side of the building. Villar was apprehended after a lengthy foot chase that extended across multiple streets. The officer sustained minor injuries during the arrest of Villar and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The third suspect fled up Cobden Street and into the New Academy Homes complex on Codman Park, successfully evading capture.
Following the arrests, officers returned to the vehicle to conduct a search. Inside, they recovered a loaded Smith & Wesson SW9VE 9mm handgun from the area where the 16-year-old suspect had been seated. The firearm was loaded with one round in the chamber and fifteen rounds in the magazine. Officers also observed that the vehicle’s ignition had been forcibly removed, a method commonly associated with the theft of certain Hyundai models.
The 16-year-old male suspect was medically evaluated at a local hospital and placed under arrest.
The 16-year-old male is expected to be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on the following charges:
- Delinquent to wit: Unlawful Possession of a Firearm
- Delinquent to wit: Unlawful Possession of Ammunition
- Delinquent to wit: Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Firearm
- Delinquent to wit: Receiving Stolen Property
- Delinquent to wit: Trespassing
Francis Villar is expected to be arraigned in Roxbury District Court on the following charges:
- Receiving Stolen Property
- Trespassing
- Resisting Arrest