A St. Thomas physician was robbed in the front yard of his Tabor and Harmony home Sunday morning after being held at gunpoint by two suspects who later made their getaway in his sports utility vehicle. It was one of several incidents reported to police over the weekend.
Dr. Joselito Rosal was held up outside his home around 7:30 a.m. Sunday and ordered by his attackers to turned over an unreported amount of cash and personal effects before the pair took his automobile keys and fled the Tabor and Harmony neighborhood. Sgt. Annette Raimer , police spokeswoman, said Sunday afternoon that Rosal of the Doctors On Duty clinic was not injured in the robbery. His vehicle was recovered a few hours later in the Tutu Highrise housing community. Raimer could not say whether Rosal was walking around his yard or had just gotten home when he was accosted. The forensics unit has the vehicle and is checking it for fingerprints and other evidence that could lead to the identification of the robbers. The case, Raimer said, will be turned over to either the VIPD investigation bureau or the V.I. Safestreet Task Force for follow-up investigation.
Raimer also reported that at least one person was shot near the basketball court on Commandant Gade in a Saturday evening drive-by shooting. Eric Gomes was treated at the Roy Schneider Hospital for a gunshot wound to the lower back. "He walked in to the hospital for treatment around 8:25 p.m. Saturday," Raimer said.
Police units had been sent to the area near Long Path about two hours earlier due to reports that persons in a vehicle had opened fire on the basketball court as they drove on the narrow, winding roadway, a stone's throw away from Garden Street. An investigation is underway. Gomes has reportedly told police he knows who shot him.
Twenty-three-year-old Carlos Colon was treated at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital for an injury caused when a bullet grazed his lower abdomen around 9 a.m. Friday. Raimer said Colon was in the Lindbergh Bay area when he was injured by the gunfire from an unknown shooter.
In another incident, a 23-year-old unidentified St. Croix man was robbed of a gold chain and $300 cash as he walked in Lindbergh Bay near Community Motors
Friday at 11:19 p.m. Raimer said an investigation is underway, the victim does not know who robbed him of his money and jewelry.
Anyone with information on the robberies and shootings should call police detectives at 774-4050, the emergency number 911 or the confidential crime line at 777-8711.
