Police Clarify Location of Recent Stabbing in St. Thomas: It is said to have Occurred Outside Tap & Still

ST. THOMAS — The Virgin Islands Police Department (V.I.P.D.) has clarified that a Saturday night stabbing on St. Thomas did not occur inside the Tap and Still restaurant in Havensight, as the department previously suggested in a report.

Instead, the incident happened “in the area” of the bar and restaurant popular among tourists and locals – not inside.

Tap and Still co-owner Hooman Pedram told the Consortium that surveillance camera video from Saturday and Sunday morning showed no violent or suspicious activity in the bar. Pedram said he reviewed the footage with store managers. The same surveillance video recordings could have been made available to authorities if they were, indeed, investigating an incident at the establishment.

The previous police report stated, “the victim stated that he was seated on the left side facing the parking lot at Tap and Still Restaurant, located in Port of Sale Mall.” The report further stated, “The victim went on to state that while at Tap and Still, a Medic Special Operations Unit from VIPD assisted him medically until he was transported to the Roy Lester Schneider Hospital. The victim sustained a puncture wound to the left side of his upper torso.”

Pedram said staff working that night were shocked to hear the initial reports because nothing had been amiss that night.

Pedram said the disturbance and police activity appeared to be in the area of Port of Sale Mall, across the parking lot from his establishment. 

There have been no arrests in the stabbing incident. During a search for suspects, authorities, however, did make an apparently unrelated arrest of a 20-year-old on illegal gun and ammunition charges. Members of the police department’s Virgin Islands Crime Initiative stopped a vehicle turning the wrong way in a one-way area of Havensight. A tan 9 mm Glock firearm and a full, 30-round magazine were recovered in the vehicle. 

Twenty-year-old Ta’riq Springette, a passenger in the vehicle, told police the gun and ammunition clip belonged to him. Springette is unlicensed to carry a firearm. He was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition. 

Springette was booked and processed at the Richard Callwood Command on St. Thomas. Unable to post a $25,000 bail, he was turned over to the Bureau of Corrections pending an advisement hearing.

No additional details about the stabbing victim were immediately available.