John McCarthy
By: JOHN McCARTHY / V.I. Free Press News Reporter
ST. CROIX — Court documents filed Monday morning in Superior Court reveal the rapid, multi-agency intelligence dragnet that led VIPD detectives straight to 24-year-old Ra’Kheel A. Velazquez—also known as “Pablo”—less than two hours after Executive Security Unit Officer Eustace Charles was fatally ambushed in Williams Delight.
While formal murder charges remain pending as federal and territorial forensic teams process ballistics on two seized military-style assault rifles, Velazquez is currently being held at the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility on $100,000 bail following his Monday morning Advice of Rights hearing on four combined felony weapons counts.
The Getaway Car and the Work & Rest Connection
According to Probable Cause Fact Sheets authored by CIB Investigator Leon Cruz Jr., the timeline began at 5:49 a.m. Sunday when the territory’s ShotSpotter system flagged multiple rounds fired at No. 159 Williams Delight. Responding officers found Officer Charles inside a black Ford Explorer suffering from multiple fatal gunshot wounds.
A key witness told police an individual dressed entirely in black fired into Charles’s vehicle before fleeing in an unplated, black four-door Hyundai.
By 7:40 a.m., an observant detective from the VIPD Intelligence Unit spotted the unplated black Hyundai parked at Plot #10CB in Estate Work and Rest. The detective discreetly tailed the Hyundai as it departed Work and Rest—followed closely by a gray Nissan Pathfinder (plate CHV-002)—all the way to the Richmond beach area near Christiansted.
Beachfront Pursuit and Bailing Out
At Richmond Beach, the intelligence detective watched as Velazquez exited the driver’s seat of the black getaway Hyundai and climbed into the front passenger seat of the Nissan Pathfinder.
When a responding Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) officer flipped on sirens to intercept the Pathfinder, the vehicle accelerated away. During the high-speed flight, officers reported seeing Velazquez tumble out of the moving passenger door onto the road. Armed with a rifle, Velazquez scrambled to his feet and ran into the Richmond community as police cordoned off the area.
VIPD Officers M. Figueroa and G. O’Reilly cornered and detained Velazquez shortly after. Along his foot escape path, search teams recovered a black and red Anderson AM-15 assault rifle loaded with 35 live .223 rounds. During a recorded interview at the Wilbur H. Francis Command Station, Velazquez admitted to throwing the rifle and signed photographs confirming ownership.
The Work & Rest Arsenal
As Velazquez was booked, VIPD Detective Naemah Daniel and investigators traveled back to the Work and Rest apartment leased by Velazquez’s girlfriend.
Upon securing written consent to search the home, detectives discovered a second high-powered weapon hidden inside a JanSport backpack on the living room table: a 7.62 caliber assault rifle featuring taped double magazines containing 18 live rounds, alongside an array of loose .223, 7.62, and 9mm ammunition scattered through the hallway drawers.
Police records confirm Velazquez, a convicted felon, holds no valid license to possess firearms or ammunition in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
While prosecutors hold Velazquez on $50,000 bail for each of his two criminal dockets, local authorities and the FBI continue analyzing the seized AM-15 and 7.62 rifles.
