July 2, 2008 — Federal and local law enforcement arrested 12 people on St. Croix and eight on St. Thomas in a series of stings that settled a total of 34 outstanding criminal warrants in the territory in seven days, officials said Wednesday.
On St. Croix, those arrested were wanted for aggravated assault and battery / domestic violence, failure to appear, indecent exposure, unlawful sexual contact, brandishing and exhibiting a deadly weapon, contempt of court, robbery, grand larceny and carrying a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence. On St. Thomas the charges were failure to appear, aggravated assault and battery, possession of a weapon within 1000 feet of a school, possession of a weapon and contempt of court, said U.S. Marshal James M. Sullivan.
Fourteen other cases — nine on St. Thomas and five on St. Croix — were cleared because the suspect was dead or the case was otherwise closed.
The week-long arrest sweep was a joint effort between the Superior Court Marshals, V.I. Police Department officers, Immigration Customs Enforcement, Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Investigators fielded existing cases and investigated several leads in the quest to apprehend fugitives within the territory.
The effort's success resulted from sharing information and resources, said V.I. Police Commissioner James McCall.
"You have additional manpower and additional resources," McCall said. "You have to have the cooperation of all these agencies. Put it this way: When we act collectively, we get the best results."
The U.S. Marshal office dubbed the effort Operation Falcon 2008, but declined to provide names of those arrested, when they were arrested or what specific crime each person was accused of. The defendants were turned over to the territorial Court Marshal service, where they are either awaiting trials or have been released after paying fines, said Bob Roberg, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals. The V.I. Court Marshal service did not return numerous telephone calls asking for comment.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
