By JOHN McCARTHY / V.I. Free Press News Reporter
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Thomas man previously implicated in a bizarre Sugar Estate vehicle theft is facing a second, separate array of criminal charges after court documents revealed his black Acura SUV was allegedly used to coordinate a multi-vehicle theft ring involving minors over the exact same weekend.
Stephan Joseph, of the Oswald Harris Court housing community, was arrested on July 3, 2026, and charged with Grand Larceny, Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, Possession of Stolen Property, and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor.
The fresh charges stem from a June 14, 2026, incident involving the brazen daylight theft of an unregistered Suzuki RMZ 450 dirt bike from the Havensight Mall area.
Joseph’s latest arrest represents an escalating legal crisis for the suspect. As previously reported by The Virgin Islands Free Press in the “Hooded Heist” investigation, Joseph is already facing felony charges for allegedly acting as a getaway driver for a group of hooded minors who stole a white Chevrolet work truck and abandoned it wedged against a Sugar Estate business entrance.
Newly unsealed Probable Cause Fact Sheets demonstrate that both thefts occurred on the exact same Sunday morning and featured the same identical cast of adolescent suspects acting under Joseph’s adult supervision.
The Havensight Surveillance Trail
According to a sworn affidavit filed by Police Detective Yordona LoBlack, the owner of the Suzuki dirt bike—a chef at the “Stir It Up” cafe in Havensight Mall—discovered his vehicle missing during a morning work break on June 14.
A subsequent review of West Indian Company Dock (WICO) and VIPD surveillance footage exposed a highly coordinated operation. Investigators observed a distinctly lowered, heavily tinted black Acura RDX featuring custom lettering on the windshield entering Havensight Mall. A male passenger dressed in dark clothing exited the Acura, walked directly to the parked dirt bike, and maneuvered it away through Yacht Haven Grande.
Surveillance footage later captured the suspect vehicle alongside the stolen motorcycle inside Yacht Haven Grande, where the vehicle occupants interacted before two minors pushed the bike across the roadway towards the Giant Gas Station.
The VIPD broke the case open utilizing Flock Safety license plate readers positioned in Havensight Mall, which successfully flagged the Acura’s plate as “AS-176.” The registration tracked back to a Bovoni resident who immediately informed detectives that Joseph was in sole possession of and routinely operated the vehicle.
Retaliation and Admissions
The fallout from the Havensight theft quickly turned violent. Later that same day, VIPD Patrol Division officers and Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) detectives responded to building 35 of the Oswald Harris Court housing community. There, they discovered a bleeding minor who had been assaulted and sustained visible head injuries.
The juvenile victim told police he was approached by three males in a vehicle, one of whom exited and demanded, “Where is my bike?” The assailant then struck the minor and threatened, “I want my bike back or I will do something to you,” before fleeing. The stolen dirt bike was recovered later that afternoon in the area of Estate Ross following the assault and returned to its owner.
During a June 30 police interview at the CIB, Joseph waived his constitutional rights and admitted to operating the black Acura RDX. He further confessed that he had recently stripped the custom text off the vehicle’s windshield after an associate from Hospital Ground showed him a photograph of his SUV tied to the Havensight theft.
Joseph claimed to detectives that he merely gave the minors a ride to Havensight to “retrieve a bike,” admitting that their hooded attire led him to suspect they were planning to engage in criminal activities.
However, co-defendant Ra’Jahni Hendrickson provided a conflicting account to the Juvenile Bureau, stating that the group traveled to Havensight together, where Joseph explicitly pointed out the Suzuki dirt bike and instructed an unidentified minor to steal it.
Legal Status
Following his July 3 arrest in the Havensight case, bail for Joseph was fixed at $25,000.00. Combined with the $30,000.00 bail attached to his Sugar Estate work truck charges, Joseph faces a total of $55,000.00 in court-ordered bail requirements.
Unable to post the required funds, Joseph was remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections at the John A. Bell Correctional Facility dynamic awaiting his Advice of Rights hearing.
The case remains under active investigation by the VIPD Criminal Investigation Bureau.
