Valmon Glasford, a 22-year-old resident of Patriot Manor on St. Thomas, appeared before Superior Court Magistrate Henry Carr III after reportedly taking part in two attacks on Saturday.
According to testimony from Detectives Brian Bedminster and Delbert Phipps, Glasford allegedly pistol-whipped a man and pointed the weapon at another man during an altercation in Red Hook.
“The surveillance showed three individuals entering American Yacht Harbor where [the alleged victim] was walking across the road. The victim said the vehicle almost hit him and he became involved in a verbal altercation,” Bedminster said.
Working on tips from an earlier incident that took place several miles away, police located the suspect and two companions in an apartment at Patriot Manor. They also found the weapon believed to have been used in the incident at Red Hook.
An electronic warrant called into the court early in the morning allowed authorities to search the premises. Phipps told the court pieces of a firearm were found hidden in a box of cornflakes, a bag of sugar and a package of fabric softener.
Police arrested Glasford and charged him with third-degree assault, assault with a deadly weapon and illegal discharge of a firearm. At Monday’s preliminary hearing, Bedminster said there were three witnesses who told police the weapon discharged some time during the alleged assault.
A white rental vehicle and a witness description of one of the passengers helped police make the connection that led to the identification of that car, and a woman who called police to report the car had been stolen. On further questioning, the woman said she had been forced to falsely report a stolen vehicle.
The prosecutor in the case, Assistant Attorney General Brenda Scales, said the defendant had several previous brushes with the law and a conviction from 2017, although court records were unclear about the offense charged at the time.
“We still have the assault, we still have the surveillance tape. We not only consider him a danger to the community, we consider him a danger to the witnesses,” Scales said. She asked the court to uphold the $30,000 bail set at the time of the arrest. But the magistrate said he would instead raise the bail to $100,000.
“This, to me, is a serious crime. I am more inclined to raise the bail to $100,000 with 10 percent cash,” Carr said.
The defendant will have a chance to enter a plea on the charges at an arraignment hearing set for 9 a.m. on July 23.