A resident of St. Croix recently told police he was on the phone with a caller who repeatedly made violent threats that could only be stopped by paying money. Arrangements had been made to leave a satchel with the payment in the back of a truck where the caller could find it.
According to reports filed in Superior Court, the pick-up was arranged with help from law enforcement, and when the suspect showed up to receive the money, police and the FBI closed in. Court records also said the recipient of the calls first went to authorities in early August to document alleged attempts to extort him.
Several more complaints followed, including those filed with the FBI. Details of the calls were turned over to investigators who found a pattern of evasion by a caller using fake phone numbers. Investigators were also able to document text and voice messages similar to the ones that were reported previously.
By Aug. 16, a joint enforcement operation was set into motion. The suspect, later identified as Delani Benjamin, reached the location and investigators said they tried to retrieve $5,000. Local and federal officers watched; a white Jeep left the area after its occupant made a failed attempt.
Over the next several minutes, the Jeep left the area and returned. In between, court records said the caller reached out to his intended victim for instructions. On the third attempt, Benjamin was able to open the truck.
“The Jeep returned a third time, and the male individual approached the truck again. The male individual was on his cellular phone. This time he got the glass tailgate open and retrieved the money bag that was placed under a box in the truck bed. The individual appears to look inside the bag and drop it back into the truck bed. He then walked back to his vehicle where he was apprehended,” the arresting officer stated in a document submitted to the court.
After arresting the suspect, police got in touch with the intended victim, who told them he was on the phone with the suspect as he removed the satchel with the money from the truck.
And then, he said, the call cut off.
Benjamin made an initial appearance in Superior Court Magistrates Division on Monday. Magistrate Judge Ernest Morris upheld charges of extortion, possession of an unlicensed firearm, harrasment by phone and possession or sale of ammunition.
