FREDERIKSTED — A St. Croix man has been arrested twice in five months on illegal gun charges — and in the first instance it was after an innocent bystander had been shot in the back, authorities said.
Rahkeem Swanston, 20, of Estate Whim, was arrested at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday and charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession or sale of ammunition, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle operated by Swanston on Melvin Evans Highway near the Good Hope intersection, according to the VIPD.
“During the traffic stop, officers discovered a loaded firearm in the vehicle,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said.
A check of the VIPD Firearms Bureau’s records verified that Swanston did not possess a license to carry a firearm in the U.S. Virgin Islands, so he was arrested, Derima said.
Bail for Swanston was set at $50,000. Unable to post bail, he was remanded to the custody of the Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections (BOC) pending an advice-of-rights hearing.
On July 2, Swanston was one of two shooters identified at the Walter I.M. Hodge Pavilion after a woman was shot in the back, police records indicate.
Officers assigned to Phase 2 of the Virgin Islands Crime Initiative made the arrest of Swanston, he said.
St. Croix District Chief of Police Sidney Elskoe expressed concern about this arrest.
“This particular individual was arrested in July for another gun-related incident,” Chief Elskoe said. “If there are people in this community who are determined to possess illegal firearms, even after being arrested for having those firearms, we will find those persons and keep arresting them.”
Chief Elskoe said. He praised the officers of the Virgin Islands Crime Initiative for their work in taking illegal guns off the streets, out of the hands of would-be shooters.
All individuals listed as arrested or charged with a crime in this news article are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.