FREDERIKSTED — Three St. Croix men commandeered a taxi van at gunpoint in broad daylight within proximity of the Carambola Beach Resort golf course on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
Quasheen A. Christian, 19, was arrested as a “person of interest” in the robbery of the taxi van driver and charged with first-degree robbery, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Bail for Christian was set at $75,000. Unable to post bail, he was booked and transported to the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility.
He was remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing.
The 911 Emergency Call Center dispatched officers from the Wilbur Francis Command police station to a robbery-carjacking incident which occurred on River Road in the vicinity of the Carambola Golf Course about 1:37 p.m. on Wednesday.
“An all-points bulletin was aired for a green Ford transit taxi van that was taken by three male suspects, at gunpoint, from the owner,” VIPD spokesman Glen Dratte said. “The owner of the taxi van was taken to the Juan F. Luis Hospital for treatment as a result of being assaulted by one of the suspects.”
While traveling to the Estate River scene an officer saw the captured taxi van and attempted to make a traffic stop.
But the taxi van sped off and was able to elude police. It drove onto a property in Mount Pleasant, Frederiksted where the three suspects abandoned the taxi van and fled on foot into the brush area of Mount Pleasant.
“Officers conducted a search in the area for the suspects with negative results,” Dratte said.
On Thursday, Criminal Investigation Bureau detectives met with Christian, who is a person of interest in this incident.
The CIB placed him under arrest and charged him with first-degree robbery “for his involvement in the robbery,” according to the VIPD.
Police notified the Virgin Islands Free Press about the incident at 10:04 p.m. Thursday.
