CHARLOTTE AMALIE– Polce responding to a report of an overturned vehicle in downtown St. Thomas found a fully-loaded machine pistol in the car of the driver, authorities said.
Delfi Chanel Rodriguez De Leon, 31, was arrested and charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, the VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said.
The case began when officers responded to a report of an overturned vehicle on Kronprindsens Gade near Jala Jala Nightclub at 4:41 a.m. Tuesday, according to Dratte.
Officers arriving on the scene observed a white Honda Accord resting on its roof and obstructing
traffic in each lane, police said.
Officers contacted the driver, the only vehicle occupant, who was trapped inside of the vehicle and were able to assist him out of the vehicle safely, according to police.
Thereafter, Emergency Medical Technicians arrived on the scene to render medical assistance and
transported de Leon to the Schneider Regional Medical Center for further medical evaluation.
Upon continuing the investigation into the auto collision, a firearm was discovered in plain sight between the driver’s door and driver’s seat of the vehicle, police said.
The firearm recovered was identified as a black Glock 40 Caliber handgun which had been modified with a selector switch allowing fully automatic gunfire discharge and it contained a magazine with ammunition, according to police.
The driver, identified as Delfi Chanel Rodriguez De Leon, was arrested upon his release from the hospital, police said.
He was transported to the Richard N. Callwood Police Central Command and processed.
His bail was set at $167,000.00 by order of the court.
De Leon was remanded to the Bureau of Corrections at the St. Thomas jail pending an advice-of-rights hearing in Superior Court.
