Investigators with the Virgin Islands Police Department rounded up a team of accused robbers over the Labor Day Weekend. Reports connected to the case say the suspects lured victims to a location where they could withdraw funds from an automated teller machine before an assault and robbery occurred.
According to statements issued by VIPD Media Relations Coordinator Kishma Chichester, suspects arrested late last week and into the holiday weekend were linked to one of two strong-arm robberies near the same ATM in Estate Castle Coakley. One reportedly took place in August 2023; the victim of the second incident summoned police on February 22.
On August 28, 2023, at about 10:18 p.m., the 911 Emergency Call Center received a report of an assault that occurred in the vicinity of Carlos Bar. Responding officers made contact with the victim,” Chichester said.
An investigator of the Criminal Investigation Bureau recounted a victim statement, accusing a man he met at a bar and some of his friends of following him to a nearby cash machine. There, the victim said, someone brandished a firearm while others in the group beat and robbed him.
On August 23, a Superior Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Jose Berrios, 36, and his alleged co-conspirators. Berrios turned himself in at the Wilbur H. Francis Command Police Station on Friday. That same day police reported the surrender of 31-year-old Benjamin Cabret in connection with a similar incident reported on Feb. 22.
In that incident, the victim told police he met a group of people at a nightclub and left the area by car in the company of a female who accompanied him to a cash machine. As he made a cash withdrawal, the people he had met earlier allegedly appeared, assaulted, and robbed him.
On Saturday a female suspect — identified as 22-year-old Kaywana Meade was arrested and charged. A second female suspect identified as Jalivya Thomas, 41, was sought after the court issued an arrest warrant for her in connection with the February incident. All suspects were charged with first degree robbery and conspiracy.
