Detectives on St. Croix arrested Jose A. Bermudez on Thursday and charged him with multiple cases of conning senior citizens out of their money, the V.I. Police Department announced.
Bermudez was charged with first-degree robbery, extortion, obtaining money by false pretenses and first-degree assault.
Police said Bermudez was arrested last year for similar crimes.
Bermudez, 41, goes by several nicknames including, Johnny Torres, Papito, Eddie Brooks and John Lewis. Police are asking anyone who was conned by this man to contact them as soon as possible.
Detectives arrested Bermudez twice Thursday on separate charges. Police said Bermudez was positively identified as the person who convinced a 79-year-old woman to give him $4,500 to purchase three houses and a car. Bermudez also approached a 77-year old woman and told her that her car was smoking and that he could fix it for $700.
Another senior, age 88, was told by Bermudez that the man’s car had picked up debris on the road and damaged Bermudez’ windshield. The victim withdrew more than $7,000 to fix the alleged damages. The seniors eventually contacted the police regarding the cases.
In the second arrest, a complainant told police Bermudez was extorting money from him in exchange for being silent on an alleged case of unlawful sexual conduct. The victim paid Bermudez more than $4,000. Another complainant told police Bermudez said she damaged his car and forced her to pay. Bermudez also forced his way into the vehicle of another of his victims and threatened to “kill him” if he did not give him money, police said.
Police said Bermudez targets senior citizens and gets money from them by threats and coercion.
Bermudez is about 5 feet, 4 inches tall and is bowlegged. He usually wears his hair very short and has a thin mustache and goatee.
Police are asking anyone who may have come into contact with Bermudez and was threatened, coerced or paid him money, to contact detectives at 1-340-712-6077 or 1-340-712-6037
