ST. CROIX — A man accused of terrorizing two employees during a machete robbery at Sonya’s Fine Island Jewelry left behind a critical piece of evidence that helped police identify him: his backpack, containing a photograph with the name Andrew Joseph written on the back.
New details contained in the probable cause factsheet provide a fuller account of Thursday afternoon’s robbery on Company Street in Christiansted, including allegations that the assailant kicked his way into an office where two female employees had sought refuge, swung a rusty machete at them and threatened to chop them before escaping with approximately $20,000 in jewelry and other property.
The Consortium first learned of the robbery and subsequent arrest Thursday. VIPD Director of Communications Glen Dratte later confirmed the incident and said the Special Operations Bureau response that resulted in the arrest was part of a 90-day agreement among law-enforcement agencies aimed at strengthening the territory’s response to robberies and burglaries.
According to the probable cause factsheet, police were dispatched to Sonya’s after receiving reports of a robbery. Employees told investigators that a man initially entered the store, looked at jewelry on display and then left.
He returned shortly afterward, this time reportedly moving a backpack he was carrying to the front of his body before pulling out a rusty machete. The man allegedly pointed the weapon at employees and demanded that they turn over anything of value.
The two women fled into the store’s office for safety. With the sales floor temporarily empty, the assailant allegedly jumped over a glass display case, damaging it, before kicking in the office door and pursuing the employees inside.
Once inside, police say the man began swinging the machete at the women while demanding valuables. One employee told officers that she grabbed a nearby chalkboard and used it as a shield as the man swung the weapon, striking objects around the office and threatening to chop them.
The employees ultimately surrendered two iPhones and an iPad. They also showed the robber jewelry available in the store.
According to the factsheet, the man rejected silver merchandise but took several gold and mixed-metal pieces, including bracelets, earrings, pendants, rings, charms and a necklace. The stolen jewelry was valued at approximately $20,000. He also allegedly took roughly $330 from the cash register.
One of the employees told police that during the robbery, the man made statements referring to the territory’s difficult economic conditions and suggested that he had no choice but to rob the business.
But investigators soon discovered that the robber had apparently left something important behind.
Police found his backpack inside the store. Among the contents was a photograph with the name Andrew Joseph written on the back, providing investigators with a possible identity for the suspect. Officers also reviewed surveillance footage that they said corroborated the employees’ account of the robbery.
Armed with Joseph’s name, police began searching the Altona Lagoon area, where investigators believed the suspect had fled. Officers eventually located Joseph, 47, inside an abandoned structure.
A search of the structure yielded the jewelry, the stolen mobile devices and most of the cash taken from Sonya’s, according to police. Officers also recovered what they identified as the rusty machete used during the robbery.
Joseph was taken into custody less than two hours after the approximately 2:30 p.m. robbery.
Dratte said the Special Operations Bureau’s response was connected to the territory’s ongoing 90-day enforcement initiative. Police Commissioner Mario Brooks recently said the operation has intensified the use of specialized teams and other law-enforcement resources in response to robberies, burglaries, shootings, home invasions and other serious crimes.
Brooks said earlier this week that the initiative had already resulted in multiple arrests and the detention of individuals considered persons of interest, with the stepped-up enforcement expected to continue through the Crucian Christmas Festival season and longer if necessary.
Joseph now faces charges of first-degree robbery, first- and third-degree assault, carrying or using a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence, grand larceny, first-degree reckless endangerment, brandishing a deadly weapon, destruction of property, possession of stolen property and disturbance of the peace.
Unable to post the initial $75,000 bail requirement, Joseph was remanded into custody at the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility.
His first court appearance was scheduled for Friday morning. As of press time, the outcome of the Advice of Rights hearing had not yet appeared on the public docket, although an arraignment has been scheduled for October 21.
