CHRISTIANSTED — A St. Croix man was arrested for his role in the first of two armed robberies of a Sunny Isle Shopping Center fast food restaurant, authorities said.
Akemoi J. Simmonds, 19, of Estate Rattan is now charged with first-degree assault, unauthorized possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and discharging or aiming a firearm, the Virgin Islands Police Department said this morning.
The new charges against Simmonds stem from the armed robbery of the KFC-Pizza Hut restaurant in the Sunny Isle Shopping Center on December 20, 2019, according to the VIPD.
Simmonds was captured by police in Estate Strawberry just minutes after the second armed robbery of the KFC-Pizza Hut restaurant in the Sunny Isle Shopping Center on January 7, police said.
At that time, Simmonds was charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm because he had a gun on his person at the time of his arrest, according to police. His bail was set at $25,000 in January.
Now, with the additional charges against him, Simmonds new bail is $100,000. Whether or not Simmonds is in official custody at this time is not clear.
VIPD spokesman Toby Derima did not immediately respond to a Virgin Islands Free Press request for information this morning.
Simmonds was the first of two suspects arrested in connection to the armed robberies of the KFC-Pizza Restaurant in the Sunny Isle Shopping Center.
Wayne Burke, 18, was the second of two suspects arrested in connection to the second armed robbery of the KFC-Pizza Hut restaurant in the Sunny Isle Shopping Center on January 7.
Burke, of Estate Golden Grove, turned himself in to police on March 12. He is charged with first-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree attempted robbery, unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.
On January 7, police said Burke shot at officers when they attempted to arrest him in Estate Strawberry, just minutes away on foot from the Sunny Isle Shopping Center where the armed robbery had just taken place. Burke was able to elude officers at that time.
Simmonds was originally only charged in connection to the second armed robbery of the KFC-Pizza Hut in the Sunny Isle Shopping Center.
The additional charges against Simmonds were posted by the VIPD to its Twitter account at 3:46 a.m. today.