ST. CROIX — A Caucasian man living in the Estate Little Fountain community in Frederiksted on Sunday threw bricks at a local Black woman while yelling profanity at her, because the woman, St. Croix native Chenelle Cuencas, mistakenly drove onto his driveway while attempting to pickup her son from a sleepover in a villa in the same community.
The incident, which saw police coming to the area after being called by Ms. Cuencas, is drawing strong condemnation from the St. Croix community, with countless individuals expressing absolute shock at the man’s behavior.
Ms. Cuencas had her two daughters in the vehicle with her when the incident occurred. Also with her was her cousin and the cousin’s husband, who rode in a separate vehicle. The family members were brought along to help Ms. Cuencas locate the villa because she was not familiar with the area.
While attempting to find the villa’s entrance, Ms. Cuencas said she made a wrong turn onto a driveway that was before the villa’s entrance. She said she greeted a man who was outside, and asked him if she was at the right place. The man’s response stunned Ms. Cuencas.
“He then cursed at me telling me that we locals need to get a “fucking” map and that he’s tired of people mistaking his entrance for the Little Fountain Cottages entrance. He told me he isn’t giving me directions and that I needed to get off his “fucking” property. My cousin’s husband then stood out of their vehicle behind me and told the guy that he didn’t have to speak to me like that,” Ms. Cuencas wrote in a status update on Facebook.
Ms. Cuencas then told the man that he was rude, and that she was leaving the property. “My daughters were in my vehicle, witnessed this and were very scared and shaken by it all,” Ms. Cuencas said.
As they reversed down the hill out of the man’s driveway, Ms. Cuencas said he was still angry, and was using profanity while threatening to throw things at them. “I told him that he’s racist and that he needs to go back to America when I heard him say he was gonna throw things at us,” Ms. Cuencas said.
It was at that point that the man grabbed a brick and hurled it at Ms. Cuencas’s vehicle as she was reversing off the property. “He threw bricks at us and it only missed the back of the rental I was driving by an inch because I had swerved,” Ms. Cuencas said. “I was in shock, disbelief and angry. I was on his property by accident. He had no reason to stone us with bricks. We never cursed at him.”
Ms. Cuencas told The Consortium that she called the police to report what had happened. “The police arrived in a timely manner and I made my report. They too were saddened and very concerned about what transpired. They took my report and I was on my way. I will take further action. Apparently he is mad about people mistaking his residence for the cottages next to him. It was an honest mistake. I’m not familiar with that area. I greeted him politely and he was irritated the moment he stepped out to speak to me. I was taken aback by his rudeness,” Ms. Cuencas said.
In a video recorded by one of Ms. Cuencas’s daughters, the man is seen picking up a brick and hurling it a the vehicle as Ms. Cuencas was reversing off the property. The daughters were audibly disturbed by incident, and pressed their mother to move faster, as the man was said to be picking up more bricks and hurling them their way.
“Mammy hurry up please,” a traumatized daughter is heard screaming as the Caucasian man ran down his driveway looking to throw more bricks at the vehicle Ms. Cuencas was driving.
“He’s running still,” the daughter warned, as Ms. Cuencas honked her cousin and her husband, who were in the vehicle in front, to move faster.
The Consortium was made aware of the matter after VI recording artist Nikki Brooks took to her Facebook page to decry what had occurred. With tears in her eyes, the well-known singer condemned the man’s behavior, and warned that if such incidents continue, the end result would not always be in equanimity. “Who the fuck are you to stone a car with a child in it?” the singer, visibly troubled, asked rhetorically.
Others commented on Ms. Cuencas’s original post to convey their displeasure. “It couldn’t have been me because war would have started,” one person said. Others even wrote their own statuses lamenting what had happened.
“As we drove out I was in disbelief and laughed a little, but trust me I was scared as hell in that moment,” Ms. Cuencas told The Consortium. “His eyes were filled with hate and anger. It was a scary experience that I don’t ever want to go through again much less anyone else.”
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