2 Men Arrested For Stealing Backpack With Cash In It On Benny Benjamin Drive: VIPD

2 Men Arrested For Stealing Backpack With Cash In It On Benny Benjamin Drive: VIPD

FREDERIKSTED — Two St. Croix men were arrested Wednesday morning in connection to a robbery that occurred near Island Center two months ago, authorities said.

Omarion Francis, 18, of La Grange, was arrested at 6:51 a.m. Wednesday and charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.

2 Men Arrested For Stealing Backpack With Cash In It On Benny Benjamin Drive: VIPD
VIPD mugshot of Omarion Francis, 18, of La Grange in St. Croix.

Luis Navarro, 19, of Walter I.M. Hodge Pavilion, an alleged co-conspirator, surrendered himself in to police shortly afterwards, according to the VIPD.

“Francis and Navarro are accused of stealing a backpack that contained cash from a victim,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said. “The incident occurred on Benny Benjamin Drive on March 24.”

Police did not specify the amount of cash in the stolen backpack, but the Virgin Islands Code defines grand larceny as taking property worth at least $500 from another person. 

Each man was arrested on warrants issued by the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, charging them with grand larceny and possession of stolen property.

Bail for Francis and Navarro was set at $50,000 each. Neither of the men were able to post bail, and they were both turned over to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections, pending their Advice of Rights hearings.

2 Men Arrested For Stealing Backpack With Cash In It On Benny Benjamin Drive: VIPD
VIPD mugshot of Luis Navarro, 19, of Walter I.M. Hodge Pavilion in St. Croix.

Officers with the VIPD Criminal Investigation and Special Operations Bureaus made the arrests of Francis and Navarro, according to Derima.

All individuals listed as arrested or charged with a crime in this report are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.