CHRISTIANSTED — Alert police on patrol in the Gallows Bay area arrested a wanted 20-year-old St. Croix man who allegedly had two illegal guns in his possession — one of them the same type of semi-automatic weapon used by the U.S. Secret Service to protect President Trump.
Jiovoni Smith of Mount Pleasant-East was arrested about 11:20 p.m. on Friday and charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and simple possession of a controlled substance, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Police said in court documents that they recognized Smith as someone wanted in Superior Court to provide a sample of his DNA.
The officers observed him sitting near Canegata Ball Park and conducted a traffic stop of his vehicle near Sharkey’s Bait Stand parking lot in Mount Welcome after it drove away suddenly from the baseball field with two other people in the car.
Smith allegedly had a gun in his pocket when officers patted him down as a security precaution, according to the VIPD. Police also recovered a .40-caliber HK P2000, under the back seat of Smith’s vehicle.
According to Superior Court documents, Smith admitted to police each gun was his. The HK P2000 under the seat had 11 rounds in the magazine — and one in the chamber — it was ready to fire.
The German-made .40-caliber handgun is the same semi-automatic weapon used by the Secret Service to protect U.S. President Donald Trump.
The HK P2000 is designed and is manufactured by Heckler & Koch in Oberndorf, Germany, makers of one of the most “durable, reliable handguns in the world,” the VP9 pistols.
Bail for Smith was set at $25,000. Unable to post bail, he was remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility.