CHRISTIANSTED — Five police cars were used to cordon off a section of Miracle Mile after a St. Croix man purposely crashed his car in a bank ATM line and shots were fired this afternoon. No one was injured in the incident.
Wingrove J. Creighton, 39, of La Grande Princesse, was arrested at 6:54 p.m. and charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, damaging and tampering with a vehicle, third-degree assault, and reckless driving, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
“Creighton, in an apparent disagreement with another man in the drive-thru ATM lane at FirstBank Orange Grove, crashed his vehicle into the rear of the other man’s vehicle,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said. “The other man in the disagreement then drew a firearm and discharged two rounds at Creighton’s vehicle. No one was injured in the incident.”
At least three plainclothes police officers were spotted on foot directing traffic away from Miracle Mile by the Golden Rock Shopping Center and Pueblo Supermarket to the south of the crime scene about 3:25 p.m. today.
Four marked VIPD squad cars were sighted near First Bank in Estate Orange Grove on Miracle Mile and one marked squad car was eventually positioned near the Golden Rock Shopping Center to route traffic away from the cordoned-off area.
Traffic snarled for more than an hour in nearby Estates Richmond, Golden Rock, Orange Grove and La Grande Princesse as motorists were forced to choose alternate routes around the restricted area between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m. today, eyewitnesses said.
Bail for Creighton was set at $30,000. Unable to post bail, he was remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing.
All individuals listed as arrested or charged with a crime in this report are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.