A 55-year-old man was arrested Thursday on St. Croix on firearm charges stemming from a February incident in which he allegedly threatened a child with a gun while searching for a stolen bicycle, the V.I. Police Department announced.
The arrest of Steven Weeks followed the execution of a search and arrest warrant issued by the Superior Court on May 20. VIPD officers took Weeks into custody Thursday without incident. He was charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. Bail was set at $100,000, according to the police report.
Police said the incident occurred on Feb. 23 around 4:46 p.m., when the 911 Emergency Call Center received a report of a man pointing a firearm at a minor in the Williams Delight area.
Responding officers interviewed the child and several witnesses, who reported that Weeks had confronted the minor with a gun, demanding the child accompany him to locate his grandchild’s stolen bicycle. The child was reportedly under the age of 12, the police report stated.
The VIPD’s Criminal Investigation Bureau determined that Weeks became enraged after discovering the bicycle had been taken from his yard. He then allegedly armed himself with a gun and approached the child. Witnesses confirmed seeing him brandish the weapon, the report stated.
When contacted by police, Weeks admitted to confronting the child but claimed the weapon was only a pellet gun and that he used it solely to retrieve the bike, it said.
The case remains under investigation.
