KINGSHILL — A St. Croix man was arrested after police allegedly discovered an unregistered firearm during a search of his vehicle at a traffic stop.
James Thomas Thomas was arrested and charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition, operating a vehicle without wearing safety belts and operating a vehicle without a front license plate, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Officers on patrol on Canaan Road last Tuesday afternoon noticed a white Toyota Corolla with no front license plate near the Mon Bijou traffic light, court records show. Neither the driver nor the passenger were wearing seatbelts, police say, so a traffic stop was initiated, near the Alfredo Andrews Elementary School.
VIPD mug shot of James Thomas of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
As police approached the car, James Thomas rolled the driver’s side window down and a strong smell of marijuana allegedly emanated from the vehicle. He told officers that all he had that would be of interest to them was “a lil weed,” and turned over a small transparent plastic bag containing marijuana, along with his license and vehicle registration and insurance documents.
At this point, police asked Thomas, as the driver, to step out of the vehicle. As he did so, an officer noticed a small backpack on the driver side floorboards. Inside the bag was a firearm, which forensics technicians later identified as being comprised of components from different manufacturers. The slide apparently belonged to a Glock 43, while the P80 tan receiver was from a 9mm “ghost gun.” The firearm also had a six-round magazine filled with 9mm ammunition, police say. The vehicle, when stopped, was just over 117 feet away from the elementary school.
Thomas allegedly admitted that the bag was his, and also reportedly admitted that he did not have a license to possess a firearm in the Virgin Islands, a fact that was later corroborated by VIPD’s Firearms Bureau.
Police say a quantity of hashish was also found inside the bag with the gun.
Thomas was taken into official custody, processed and booked. Bail was set at $50,000.
In court on November 20, Magistrate Yolan Brow Ross found probable cause to uphold all charges against Thomas. The magistrate modified his bail to require a $600 cash payment, with the remainder signed as an unsecured bond.
The details of Thomas’ pretrial release conditions have not been made public as of press time.
Tuesday’s incident was not Thomas’s first encounter with the law. In December 2023, he was arrested for allegedly driving through a crime scene, almost running over several police officers.
Thomas’ next court appearance is scheduled for December 4.
