FREDERIKSTED — A man who allegedly strangled a woman and phone-butted her was arrested on an illegal gun charge after a search of his residence, authorities said.
Calvin Parker, 23, of St. Croix, was arrested and charged with second-degree assault-domestic violence, carrying a firearm openly or concealed, unauthorized possession of a firearm and disturbance of the peace-domestic violence, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Officers were sent to the Juan F. Luis Hospital on October 7, 2022 where a woman told police that her boyfriend Parker had injured her during a physical assault, according to the VIPD.
The unnamed woman said that about 2:00 p.m. that day, she was sitting outside her apartment waiting for a friend who she had messaged to meet her there, Superior Court documents show.
Parker, who had apparently been watching from her apartment window, called her and demanded to know who she was waiting for and where they were going, according to a sworn VIPD affidavit.
The woman told Parker that she was going for a walk, alone, Superior Court documents show. She then messaged her friend, asking him to meet her at the David Hamilton Park instead. She indicated to police that Parker seemed to be able to read her text messages on his phone.
When the woman got to the park, she said she saw her boyfriend walking towards her. As he got closer, Parker told her that he would tag along with her, since she had claimed she was not meeting with anyone. While at the park, the woman says she received phone calls from her uncle and then her mother, and during one of those calls, Parker asked to see her phone, saying she could use her headset to continue the call. The pair argued and decided to take different routes home. She says they texted each other about returning each other’s belongings — Parker wanted his earrings back while the woman wanted her apartment’s spare keys back.
The woman said she arrived home to find Parker in the refrigerator, removing food he had bought for the household. She sat on the couch in the living room and phoned a friend to tell them what was happening. The woman told police that Parker approached her, insisting that she tell him “the truth,” according to a sworn police affidavit. After that, he lunged at her. She ran to the bedroom and tried to close the door but Parker pushed it open and tried snatching her phone out of her hands, demanding that she hand it over.
The woman says she then went into the kitchen, where Parker’s backpack was on the counter. She tried to take the bag, she told police, but her boyfriend reportedly gained possession of it and pulled out the firearm that was inside, Superior Court records show. The woman then ran back into the bedroom where Parker pursued her, taking the phone out of her hands. She fell to the floor and he stood over her. The woman says she tried kicking him away but Parker held her in a headlock before hitting her on the head with a hard object — but she wasn’t sure if it was the phone or the gun.
She says he eventually let go of her, and they returned to the kitchen, where he refused her offer to help her pack the rest of the food. He also refused her request for him to hand over her phone and her keys, triggering another fight, the woman told police. She said Parker straddled her and began strangling her again, but let go of her when her eyes began to close.
A friend of Parker’s came looking for him at that point, but refused the woman’s request for assistance when she asked him to use his phone. She asked Parker for her phone again — he also refused, she says, and they fought again when she tried to take it from him.
She then went to a neighbor’s place for help, calling a friend for a ride to the hospital, which is where she met with police. She gave them a description of Parker, and officers spotted him over a month later at The Market — shopping with the woman who claimed he assaulted her in October.
A search warrant for his residence was subsequently issued, and police ultimately arrested him for unauthorized possession of a firearm and disturbance of the peace.
A judge ordered Parker’s bail set at $50,000 at a court hearing on Friday. He required the bail to be fully secured if the suspect is to be released to a third-party custodian.
If he is allowed out of detention, Parker must submit to 24-hour house arrest and he will be required to wear an electronic-monitoring bracelet. He is forbidden from leaving St. Croix without the court’s written permission and must report to the probation office weekly.
Parker is not to enter the premises where the incident took place and must maintain a distance of at least 1,000 feet from the victim. He is to have no contact with the victim or any witnesses in the matter.
A pre-trial conference for Parker is scheduled for May 5, 2023.
Parker’s Previous Rap Sheet
In April of 2022, Parker was arrested after police heard a gunshot in the Paradise Mills apartments and detained three individuals in the area, including an underage teen, according to a probable cause fact sheet filed by police.
At the time, Parker told police he fired a blank round, but investigators found a .25 caliber Lorcin pistol at the scene and a spent .25 caliber shell casing, according to the fact sheet.
Another witness said he saw Parker fire one shot from the gun, and Parker “voluntarily admitted, without being asked a question, to firing a single shot in the air,” according to police.
Parker was arrested and charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, unauthorized possession of ammunition, first-degree reckless endangerment, and discharging or aiming a firearm.
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