ST. THOMAS — A man who became enraged following the roadkill of his dog, jumped into his vehicle and pursued the vehicle that had killed the dog and rammed his vehicle into the rear of it — causing both vehicles to overturn, V.I.P.D. Media Specialist Sakeeda Freeman announced Thursday.
The incident occurred after 4:00 a.m. Thursday, with officers responding at approximately 4:21 a.m. after being notified by the 911 emergency call center.
The driver of the vehicle that had been rammed from the back, said that while driving west on Julian Jackson Drive along with four other passengers, she struck a dog that suddenly ran across the street. The victim explained that while making the right turn at the intersection towards the University of the Virgin Islands, she felt a sudden impact to the rear of her vehicle, causing it to overturn.
The vehicle had been impacted from the back by another vehicle, which was being driven by a suspect named Maai Riga. According to the victim, Mr. Riga, 35, ran up to the overturned vehicle following the crash and yelled, “You killed my dog,” along with some obscene language. Mr. Riga then ran away from the scene, leaving both his overturned vehicle and that of the victim and four passengers at the crash site.
Mr. Riga was arrested and charged with first-degree assault. Ms. Freeman said she was awaiting the mugshot of the suspect, adding that she would provide it to The Consortium once available.
Police are asking anyone with information about the accident to contact the V.I.P.D. at (340) 774-2211, the Criminal Investigation Bureau at (340) 714-9801, or Crime Stoppers USVI.
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