St. Croix And St. Thomas Arrests: Rape, Unauthorized Possession Of Firearm, Parole Violation, Assault

The Virgin Islands Police Department made multiple arrest in the territory in recent days, ranging from attempted rape, violation of parole, unauthorized possession of a firearm and assault, according to V.I.P.D. Public Information Officer Glen Dratte, and the force’s media specialist, Sakeeda Freeman.

According to Ms. Freeman, on Tuesday at approximately 9:30 a.m., Abdelqader Daas, 52, was arrested after he was positively identified as the male individual who sexually assaulted the victim in August 2016, while working at Food Center, located in Fredenhoj, St. Thomas.

Mr. Daas was advised of his constitutional rights and he declined to give a statement, according to Ms. Freeman. He was charged with first-degree attempted rape and unlawful sexual contact.

Unable to make bail of $76,000, Mr. Daas was remanded to the Bureau of Corrections pending his advise-of-rights hearing.

On St. Croix, 21-year-old Sejio Rojo-Felix was arrested today and charged with third-degree assault after he gun-butted one victim and stuck the gun on the neck of a second victim, according to Mr. Dratte. 

After failing to make bail of $25,000, Mr. Rojo-Felix was remanded to the Golden Grove Detention Center pending his advise-of-rights hearing.

Also on St. Croix, 31-year-old Everick G.A. Phillip from Mount Pleasant was arrested on Sunday, December 11. He was attempting to depart St. Croix for Puerto Rico when the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did a National Crime Information Center check, which revealed that Mr. Phillip was wanted in Orange County, Florida, on a parole violation warrant, according to Mr. Dratte.

Mr. Phillip was detained pending advise-of-rights hearing and later scheduled for an extradition hearing. The N.C.I.C. is a system that assists all law enforcement agencies with documented criminal information regionally and nationally.

Meanwhile, 37-year-old Robert Marsh, AKA “Netty”, was arrested and charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm today, following an incident that occurred at the entrance of Breezez Restaurant in Estate Golden Rock, according to Mr. Dratte.

Mr. Marsh was found to be in possession of a firearm (45 caliber handgun with 12 live rounds) that he was not licensed to carry in the territory.

Unable to make bail of $25,000, Mr. Marsh was remanded to the Golden Grove Detention Center pending his advise-of-rights hearing.

And police arrested Festus Pemberton, 53, for first-degree assault, following a verbal altercation which resulted in Mr. Pemberton shooting his firearm in the direction of the victim, according to Mr. Dratte.

The incident occurred after 11:00 a.m. today at the St. Croix Marina, located in Gallows Bay, according to police. The 911 emergency call center relayed that Mr. Pemberton had left the scene driving a black GMC truck; an officer in the vicinity transmitted via radio that she was driving behind of the GMC truck and immediately conducted a traffic stop, according to Mr. Dratte.

Mr. Pemberton was detained and placed in the back seat of a marked police unit without incident, according to Mr. Dratte.

No injury was sustained during the incident, according to Mr. Dratte.