KINGSHILL — The owner of a nightclub where the most fatal shootings have taken place on St. Croix was himself arrested for recklessly firing a gun near a woman outside his own Estate La Reine establishment, authorities said.
Jamaal Mingo, 40, of St. Croix, was arrested and charged with third-degree assault, unauthorized possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, unauthorized possession of ammunition, discharging or aiming firearms and first-degree reckless endangerment, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Mingo, the owner of Corner Pocket Grillhouse and Nightclub in Estate La Reine, was arrested Thursday after firing a gunshot into the air during an altercation with his child’s mother outside the bar, VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said.
The suspect, Mingo, also allegedly pointed the firearm at a female who was at the bar, following a verbal argument that turned into a physical altercation, according to Dratte.
The 911 Emergency Call Center received a report at 11:14 p.m. Tuesday from a female who said that she was having a disagreement with her daughter’s father, Jamaal Mingo at his business Corner Pocket, and that he fired a single gunshot into the air and brandished and then pointed a firearm at a different family member as well, police said.
Several witnesses to the crime were interviewed and their statements all agreed with the complainants’ statements, according to police.
A police investigation revealed that “Mingo was intoxicated and got in a verbal and then physical altercation with some females in the business that continued on the outside of the business,” the police report states.
During the altercation, Mingo ran back inside the establishment and returned with a firearm and discharged a shot in the air, according to police. The bar owner then walked up to the two women and put the gun directly in the face of one of the women, the report says.
Officers conducted a firearms registration check which revealed that Mingo does not have a license to carry a firearm in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the VIPD.
Search warrants were obtained by police for Mingo’s official residence of record, his place of business and his female companions’ residences and during these individual searches a firearm was discovered by officers, the VIPD said.
Bail for Mingo was set at $100,000 as per chart.
Mingo was also separately charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm after a gun was discovered in a vehicle that Mingo claimed to own, according to police.
Bail for the additional gun charge was later set at $50,000. Dratte declined to say if Mingo was able to post $150,000 bail money.
The suspect was scheduled for an advice-of-rights hearing in Superior Court at 9:00 a.m. today.
