CHRISTIANSTED – A St. Croix man faces assault and battery charges after he allegedly punched his girlfriend, authorities said.
Nelson Garcia Jr., 36, was arrested and charged with second-degree assault and simple assault & battery, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
The case began on August 15, 2025, at approximately 3:00 p.m., when detectives of the Criminal Investigation Bureau were requested at the Ancilmo Marshall Command in reference to a domestic violence report, according to the VIPD.
VIPD mug shot of Nelson Garcia, Jr., 36, of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Detectives met with an adult female who reported that on August 15, 2025, her boyfriend Nelson Garcia Jr. punched her and struck her in the head with a cell phone causing visible injures, VIPD spokeswoman Kishma Chichester said.
On August 18, 2025, Garcia surrendered himself without incident to the officers at the Wilbur H. Francis Command in Mars Hill where he was taken into official custody, according to Chichester.
No bail was offered to Garcia due to the territory’s domestic violence statutes.
Garcia was booked and processed at the Police Administrative Building in Mars Hill.
He was transferred to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections at the John A. Bell Adult Correctional
Facility in Golden Grove.
Garcia was scheduled for an advice-of-rights hearing in Superior Court at Kingshill this morning.
