Mugshot of Junior Jones. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS — A man is currently facing serious felony charges including kidnapping after allegedly asking his ex-girlfriend for a ride before brutalizing her in the car.
Court documents reveal that last Friday night, police responded to an assault report at the Schneider Regional Medical Center. Officers there encountered a woman who reported being attacked by her ex-boyfriend, Junior Jones. She followed up the next day at the Domestic Violence Unit, explaining that the incident occurred while she was driving home from work with a coworker, whom she was offering a ride. Upon spotting Jones walking along Norre Gade, she decided to offer him a lift.
Initially, he requested to be taken home but then opted to be dropped off at a nearby bar instead, a request she complied with. Shortly after she had dropped off her coworker, the woman received a call from an unfamiliar number. It turned out to be Jones, informing her that he had accidentally left his phone in her car. Upon finding the phone, she went to return it to him. However, upon her arrival, she recounted to police that he immediately began to accuse her of being intimate with others.
Jones reportedly said that he was joking, and asked the woman to take him home. Carrying his backpack and holding a drink, he got into her car and they began driving to his residence in Hospital Ground. During the trip, the woman said Jones kept asking her why she had slept with his friend, an accusation she says is not true, and therefore she did not answer. Once they had arrived at his house, Jones reportedly turned violent, grabbing her by the hair and threatening to kill her.
She recounted how he began punching her, and how she turned so that the blows would land on the back of her head instead of her face. He reportedly threatened to shoot her, saying that he had a gun in the backpack. The woman said she tried to drive to a more well-lit area, and when he mentioned the gun she reportedly tossed the backpack outside the car window and sped away, while her ex was reportedly still grabbing onto her hair.
Upon his insistence, she returned for the bag. Jones reportedly rummaged through the backpack and pulled out a white-handled knife with a jagged blade and a curved tip. She told police that he then demanded money from her – $400 that she did not have on her person. He told her to get it from the bank, at which point she tried driving towards the police station on the Charlotte Amalie waterfront. Jones, when he realized what she was doing, reportedly threatened to kill her, so she changed course and headed towards Polyberg Hill, according to court documents.
Jones reportedly continued to menace his ex with the knife, putting it to the side of her neck while he punched her and yanked on her hair. At one point, the woman said he tried to stab her in the upper chest area, but she grabbed the blade to protect herself. Her fingers were slashed when Jones pulled the knife away, and she arrived at the Lockheart Garden Banco Popular with her hand bleeding.
The two of them sat parked in front of the ATM, her pleading with Jones to release her hair so that she could go and get the money, and her ex contemplating ways to obtain the funds without letting go of her hair. Ultimately, he reportedly decided to push open her door himself so that she could exit the vehicle. As he tried to maneuver himself from passenger to driver’s seat, he reportedly released his hold on the woman’s hair for a brief moment. She told police that she seized the opportunity to flee, kicking off her shoes and running towards Rumar Road screaming for help.
A co-worker reportedly spotted the distressed woman in the middle of the road and transported her to the Schneider Regional Medical Center's emergency room for treatment. As they left the scene, the woman said she saw her ex rummaging through her vehicle. The lacerations to her fingers required five stitches each on her left pointer and middle fingers, and a cast on her middle finger.
Police found Jones on Saturday morning in the Fort Christian Parking lot. He was wearing a gray sweater with what looked like droplets of blood spattered across it. He reportedly told them that his ex was “causing problems” for him, and informed the police that he had a flight to catch later that morning. In response to police inquiries about what had transpired between him and his ex, he reportedly said that he saw something happening, but was not able to stop it. He was then arrested and charged with third-degree assault, false imprisonment, and kidnapping to exact money, all as acts of domestic violence. He was also charged with attempted first-degree robbery, using a weapon during a crime of violence, and disturbance of the peace.
In court on Monday Magistrate Simone VanHolten-Turnbull made an order for Jones’s release ahead of trial, however the details of that order, including the conditions of bail, have not been made available to the public as of press time.
His next court appearance has been scheduled for April 5.
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