Two enforcement officers for the Department of Planning and Natural Resources had cash and property stolen from their patrol car Friday at Hawksnest Beach.
At the time of the theft, officers Alvin Powell Jr. and Oliver Christian were teaching water safety to youngsters from the Police Athletic League.
"We’ve been on St. John the whole month, doing boating safety enforcement and providing the kids with boating safety and water safety courses. This was our last day," Powell said.
The final exercise was to demonstrate the use of life jackets, which required the officers to get into the water.
When campers left the water to have lunch, Powell and Christian returned to the patrol car to find their wallets missing.
"When we went back into the vehicle to put back on our clothes … all our things were gone," Powell said.
The thieves did not take Powell's gun, he said. It was unclear if Christian's gun had been taken.
With help from police officers supervising the PAL program, a search was conducted for the missing items but Powell said nothing was found.
Sgt. Annette Raimer, spokesperson for the VI Police Department, said no report was filed on the incident at zone command in Cruz Bay.
In the past, Powell has aided in the arrest of thieves preying on St. John beachgoers, he said. Earlier this year, he helped apprehend Matthew John Hall, the alleged note-passing bank bandit who hit St. Thomas and St. Croix during the Christmas holidays.
Hall was linked to the heists after being picked up and charged with stealing cameras at St. John’s Cinnamon Bay Beach.
