CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Members of the Virgin Islands Police Department Operation Rewind Task Force were conducting traffic enforcement on Back Street about 11:10 p.m. Thursday.
A traffic stop was initiated with a 2022 white Toyota Corolla without a front license plate. Officers met with the driver, who did not have the proper documents for the vehicle, according to the VIPD.
The driver gave officers permission to search a bag that was on the back seat of the vehicle which had an impression of a drum-style magazine used in firearms, police said. During the search, Mr. Lamar Richardson, who had identified himself, turned on the vehicle, and drove through the check point at a high rate of speed and against the normal flow of traffic, according to police.
In an attempt to locate the vehicle, officers made inspections in the Bunker Hill area as well as the Mafolie Hill area with no success of locating the vehicle. Richardson was located the following day where he and a friend attempted to evade officers, VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said.
“As officers followed the suspects, each in their own vehicles, it was difficult to keep pace with the suspects without putting other motorists in harm’s way,” Dratte said.
Lamar Richardson, 28, with the aid of other sources turned himself into police at the Richard Callwood Command, where he was charged and booked. Richardson was charged with being a felon in possession of illegal ammunition, delaying and obstructing, and reckless endangerment.
Bail for Richardson was set at $100,000.00. Unable to post bail he was remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing..
Javorn Vanterpool
On Friday, March 4, 2023, at approximately 11:40 a.m., members of the Virgin Islands Police Department Operation Rewind Task Force were surveilling the location of a known felon/suspect who was wanted for a crime the previous day. Officers observed Lamar Richardson (the known suspect) and the driver of a white Ford Focus left the area at a high rate of speed but returned shortly thereafter.
Richardson then exited the Ford Focus and got inside his white Corolla, and both men left in their vehicles at a high rate of speed. Officers were able to follow the two vehicles; but, each suspect began overtaking other motorists on the roadways, which made it very difficult to keep pace with the suspects without putting other motorists in danger.
Officers with the help of sources were able to locate the white Ford Focus in the area of the airport where it was intercepted, police said. The driver, later identified as Javorn Vanterpool, was taken into custody at that time. Vanterpool was also in possession of a licensed firearm and a handheld radio that picked up all the police transmissions.
Javorn Vanterpool, 25, was charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive, delaying and obstructing, and reckless Endangerment, according to police. Vanterpool was subsequently booked. His bail set at $50,000.00. Unable to post bail, he was remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing.