Mugshot of Lisa Curtis. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. THOMAS — A woman who kept driving away from an officer who cautioned her over dark tint is now facing the criminal courts.
Sometime after 10:00 p.m. on April 18, a police officer was in the vicinity of the Race Track Gas Station on Alton Adams Drive when he noticed a black Jeep Renegade with heavily-tinted windows. He approached the SUV and informed the driver that the tint was too dark, and also that it extended too far down on the front windshield.
Using a common expletive, the driver – identified as Lisa Curtis – reportedly asked the officer why he didn’t “stop bothering people,” before driving off when he asked her to produce her documents. The officer got back into his vehicle and followed the Jeep onto the east-bound lane of Alton Adams Drive, where he flipped on his emergency lights. Curtis came to a stop in the roadway near the Lockhart Gardens Banco Popular, reportedly refusing instructions to pull over to the left and forcing vehicles in the bank’s parking lot to have to stop and go around her SUV.
The officer approached the vehicle again, speaking with dispatch as he did so. Curtis reportedly opened the door of the vehicle, telling the approaching officer that he was not a real member of the VIPD, and informing him that she had called for police assistance. Indeed, the officer reported hearing dispatch over the radio summoning units to his location on behalf of Curtis, so he waited for his colleagues to arrive.
Curtis did not, however, and reportedly drove away from the scene of the traffic stop. Once again, the officer got back into his vehicle and followed her down Alton Adams Drive, this time heading west. Ignoring commands to stop delivered via siren, air horn and loudspeaker, Curtis continued driving, turning left onto William G. Lewis Lane. At that point, the trailing officer maneuvered in front of her to block her forward progress, while other units converged behind her to prevent her from retracing her route.
Hemmed in, Curtis finally exited the vehicle, reportedly claiming that her “rights are being violated” as she was arrested and taken to the Richard Callwood Command police station for processing.
At her advice of rights hearing on Wednesday, the court found sufficient probable cause to sustain charges against Curtis for the tinted glass on the vehicle, interfering with an officer, and escape from custody of an officer. Ultimately, the presiding judge allowed Curtis to be released on her own recognizance ahead of her arraignment on May 5.
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