ST. CROIX — An attempted traffic stop over a missing front license plate escalated into a high-speed police chase exceeding 100 miles per hour Saturday evening, ending when the fleeing vehicle crashed into a guardrail and officers recovered an unserialized 9mm firearm equipped with a device police say enabled automatic fire.
Passenger Elijah Blyden was arrested on firearm and ammunition charges following the October 3 crash, while the driver, Kwane Wilson Jr., was also taken into custody on several traffic-related charges.
Police said officers on patrol first attempted to stop an Acura TSX traveling south on Emancipation Road after noticing that no front license plate was visible.
Instead of stopping, the driver allegedly accelerated away, turning onto Percy Gerdine Avenue before making another right onto Stoney Ground Road and then a left into the White Bay area toward the former Arthur A. Richards school.
The pursuit eventually moved onto the Melvin Evans Highway, where police say the Acura reached speeds exceeding 100 mph while several police vehicles followed.
Investigators allege that the vehicle continued through multiple red lights before reaching the area of the Industrial Road intersection, where the driver lost control and crashed into a guardrail.
Officers helped Blyden out of the wrecked vehicle through the passenger-side window. During a pat-down, police reportedly discovered an empty gun holster tucked into his waistband.
Officers then found a firearm on the ground at the location where Blyden had exited the vehicle.
Forensic technicians subsequently examined the weapon and identified it as an unserialized 9mm firearm, described by police as a “ghost gun” because it bore no markings identifying a manufacturer, model or serial number.
The firearm was reportedly fitted with a 17-round magazine and a device that police said enabled automatic firing.
A records check determined that Blyden had not been issued a license to possess a firearm in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to police.
He was arrested and charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. Blyden was subsequently remanded into custody pending his first court appearance.
Wilson, who police identified as the driver of the Acura, was also arrested following the crash. He faces charges of failure to stop a vehicle when ordered by a police officer, speeding, operating a motor vehicle in a reckless manner and driving without a license.
Both men were scheduled to appear Monday before Magistrate Judge Yolan Brow Ross in V.I. Superior Court on St. Croix.
