Photo: The aftermath of the truck/trailer chase on Blanchard Street(Credit: Jay Connor)

After having 11 racing shells “destroyed” in the aftermath of a wild police chase through three towns on Saturday night, May 17, that left boats, vehicles, and property damaged, a police officer injured, and a Belmont roadway closed for an hour, the Arlington-Belmont Crew is seeking funds to get the club that attract local high school athletes to the sport back in the water.

Donations can be made directly to the team’s fundraising page.

The incident, that ended on Blanchard Street Saturday night, began at the crew’s Pond Lane clubhouse located at Arlington’s Spy Pond after the team returned from a last-minute replacement meet after its scheduled USRowing Regional Championship regatta in Lowell was cancelled Friday.

In an note to supporters on its website, Salpi Der Stepanian, president of the club’s board of directors, said the trailer was to be unloaded by team members at their practice on Monday. But shortly after the pickup truck and trailer was parked at 8:45 p.m., the suspect jumped into the truck, “and drove it up a wooded embankment and onto the [nearby] Minuteman Bike Path,” wrote Der Stepanian. Arlington Police reported three vehicles were involved in accidents with the truck.

According to a media report in Cambridge Day, Cambridge Police spokesperson Bob Reardon said the suspect entered Cambridge along Route 2 around 9 p.m. Soon afterwards, Cambridge Police “received reports of hit-and-run crashes at multiple locations in West Cambridge, all involving a pickup truck towing a trailer of … boats.”

“The truck, which it was learned had been reported stolen to the Arlington Police, was said to have been involved in several hit & run crashes at multiple locations – including the rotaries where Concord Avenue meet Fresh Pond Parkway and Alewife Brook Parkway – resulting in non-life-threatening injuries and significant property damage” as well as leaving one of the shells in the middle of the road, according to a Cambridge Police social media post. Reardon said.

During the chase, Cambridge Police reported the stolen truck also hit a Cambridge police cruiser. “The police officer driving the cruiser was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries,” according to police.

After leaving a trail of destruction in Cambridge, the pickup and trailer were located entering Belmont turning onto Blanchard Road towards Route 2. The chase ended near the MBTA commuter rail tracks when the trailer “ultimately flipped, and the truck was stopped … by Belmont Police,” said Der Stepanian. The suspect was arrested and will be arraigned in Cambridge on Monday, May 19.

“The suspect’s actions caused damage to several other vehicles and destroyed most, if not all, of the 11 boats on the trailer,” said Der Stepanian.

“We extend our thanks to the Arlington, Belmont, and Cambridge Police Departments and all agencies involved for their swift response in stopping the vehicle and for their continuing assistance. We are working with the police in their investigation to determine exactly how this terrible incident occurred. We extend our sympathies to anyone affected by this event, including property owners, drivers, pedestrians, and other members of the Arlington, Belmont, and Cambridge communities,” Der Stepanian said.

In an account reported by the media site Your Arlington, a parent of one of the athletes wrote of the team’s shock of the incident on Reddit:

“I’m a mom of one of the rowers whose boat was snapped in half during this reckless incident. The team is devastated. It’s been a tough season for them due to all the rain. Yesterday’s race was originally scheduled for this entire weekend in Lowell but the river wasn’t safe (again) and it was canceled late Friday. Coaches worked hard to find another race they could participate in and the kids got up at 4am to get there and didn’t get home till 7pm—only for this to happen two hours later.”

Special thanks to the independent media sites Your Arlington and Cambridge Day for its reporting on the incident.