Aylward Arrest Age 43

On Saturday, November 8, 2014, I, Sergeant Lavey, was on duty for the Somerville Police assigned to the Twin City Mall detail assignment from 4pm-8pm. At approximately 5:20 PM, I was parked in the Twin City Mall parking lot which is located at McGrath Highway in Somerville.

This parking lot is a private way which is open to the public where, in addition to shopping at one of the twelve or more stores, motorists continuously enter the parking lot from the Medford/Gore St entrance and the McGrath Highway entrance to cut through to Cambridge. As I was seated in an unmarked black Ford Taurus cruiser observing the store fronts, a brown Nissan baring MA plate 1MH128 pulled into a spot directly in front of me. I was facing the Nissan and observed a white male operator sporting a baseball cap, a female in front passenger seat, a male passenger seated behind the driver and another female seated passenger side rear seat.

I monitored the group seated in Nissan for several minutes. The operator rolled down the driver’s side window and discarded a red and white wrapper not once but three times. The wrappers fell to the ground where they remained until I later retrieved them. My initial thought was to conduct an inquiry to stop and ID the operator for littering but I decided to wait. Instead, I ran the plate and learned the vehicle was registered to a female from Quincy. The group did not seem to realize they were right in front of a police officer and that may be due to the fact the cruiser had dark tint and it was dark out.

After approximately five minutes, the vehicle pulled away and drove to the opposite side of the parking lot towards McGrath Highway where it pulled into the McDonalds Parking area. I know this area is a crimogen for drug issues, especially heroin. There have been drug overdoses in this area and I know the narcotic unit had made arrests for heroin related offenses at the Twin City Mall in the past.

I pulled into a parking space closer to Shaws and monitored the vehicle and its occupants. The operator exited the vehicle and appeared to speak with a black male who standing near the doorway to McDonalds. The driver then got back into the Nissan and they drove back to the area where I initially observed the operator littering from the vehicle.

I followed the vehicle as it drove around the parking lot and then headed back in the direction of McDonald’s Restaurant. I stopped the vehicle to identify the operator for littering from the vehicle. I activated the cruiser blue lights and the vehicle slowed almost to a stop. The vehicle then began to accelerate and I thought he might attempt to flee but only drove another 15 feet before stopping. I radioed in the stop while watching the occupants. I observed the male operator and front female passenger engaging in quick rapid movements and became very concerned. I quickly realized, the operator and front passenger traded seats and they got stuck because the female front passenger had a medical boot on her foot.

I asked the male who was now seated in the front passenger seat for his license. The female told me she was driving. I told her to save her lies because I had been watching them in the parking lot for some time now and I observed them switch seats. The male, later identified as Shawn Aylward told me he didn’t have a license. The female was identified via her license as owner of the vehicle. I requested Aylward write his name, DOB, and driver’s license number if he knew it on the vehicle registration. I was able to identify Aylward by his MA ID only as he doesn’t have a driver’s license. Aylward’s right to operate in MA was revoked. I placed Aylward under arrest for operating with a revoked license and littering from the vehicle.