From left to right, mugshots of Maaziah Powell, Shervon Bobb-Duberry, and Jah’Quan Nesbitt. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. THOMAS — More arrests have been made by the VIPD as part of Operation Clean Sweep, this time in the Hospital Ground area, Rhymer Highway and on Alton Adams Drive.
Hospital Ground Arrest
On January 27, officers were conducting surveillance near Hospital Ground after being informed that several men were sitting around a green Acura and were seen entering and exiting the vehicle with what appeared to be marijuana.
When police got to the location, they saw Jah-Quan Nesbitt, age 20, attempting to run away from police. Officers ordered Nesbitt to stop when he tried to open the vehicle's door. When asked to stop for a second time, he complied and dropped a bag on the roof of the vehicle. When police looked into the vehicle, they saw a tray on the passenger’s side filled with a green leafy substance. There was also a scale and wads of cash in plain sight on the driver’s side seat. Officers then looked into the backpack that Nesbitt dropped on the vehicle's roof and found two Glock magazines with 8 .40 caliber rounds of ammunition. When asked if he had a license to carry a firearm, Nesbitt replied no. He was placed under arrest and charged with possession of illegal ammunition.
Rhymer Highway Arrest
On January 28, officers from the Special Operations Bureau were conducting checks on Rhymer Highway when they observed a red Toyota Rav4 with a tinted front license plate cover and a registration sticker that was expired. Police signaled to the driver to pull over the vehicle. When he did so, officers noted the smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle.
The officer asked the driver and the occupant in the front passenger seat, the latter being 25-year-old Maaziah Powell, to step out of the vehicle. Officers found a black backpack on the floor belonging to Powell which contained a 9 mm Glock with 14 live rounds. Powell did not have a license to carry a firearm in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and was placed under arrest and charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of an unlicensed firearm within 1,000 ft of a school, and possession of illegal ammunition.
Alton Adams Drive Arrest
According to court documents, during patrol of Alton Adams Drive on that same day, police spotted a gray Honda Civic with excessive tint on the driver and front passenger side windows. Police asked the driver, Shervon Bobb-Durberry, 37, to stop the vehicle. As an officer approached the vehicle, he noted the smell of marijuana. He asked Bobb-Durberry to step out of the vehicle so he could conduct a search. The suspect was hesitant to exit the vehicle, which raised the officer’s suspicion. As Bobb- Durberry was exiting the vehicle, he reached for something underneath his seat but was stopped by the officer.
Officers found a backpack on the floor near the front passenger’s seat with a pistol in one of its compartments. When asked if he had a license to carry a firearm, Bobb Durberry said that he didn't have one but had submitted the paperwork. The firearm, a Springfield Armora US 45 Caliber, had four cartridges with one cartridge in the chamber, according to police.
Bobb-Durberry was placed under arrest and charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of an unlicensed firearm within 1,000 ft of a school, and illegal ammunition.
In court on Monday, a judge ruled that Nesbitt be allowed to post $1,000 cash and sign an unsecured bond with his third-party custodian for the remainder of his $10,000 bail. Powell was allowed to post 10 percent of his $15,000 bail with the remainder to be posted as an unsecured bond by him and his third-party custodian. The judge asked that Bobb-Durberry’s bail amount of $30,000 be fully secured.
All three men are barred from leaving the St. Thomas- St. John District without the court’s written permission. They must report to the Office of Probation once a week and abide by a daily curfew of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
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