Mugshot of Elijah Thompson. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. CROIX — A man is currently before the V.I. Superior Court accused of burglarizing an apartment in the Aureo Diaz housing community in May.
According to court documents, a female resident called 911 after reportedly leaving home around 10:30 p.m. on May 17. When she returned to the apartment the next morning, she found that it had been broken into and vandalized, according to police reports.
The woman said she came home to find two flat screen televisions, her refrigerator, and a mattress outside on the ground, apparently thrown over the porch of her second floor apartment. The televisions had reportedly shattered as they landed, while the fridge was dented from the fall.
By the time police arrived, the woman had reportedly discarded the broken televisions and retrieved the fridge and mattress. She told officers that she suspected Elijah Thompson, a relative, for the theft.
Thompson had reportedly called her the previous evening inquiring about a lost chain. She said he may have believed that she stole the missing jewelry and was extremely angry at the possibility.
Responding officers noted several pieces of black plastic on the ground outside the apartment building that they believe could have come from a television. One TV was in the living room of the woman's apartment, its screen broken. The front door appeared to have been forced open, with its wooden doorframe damaged and the lock broken.
Inside the apartment, the damage continued: the shower rod had been dismounted, closet doors broken, a window screen dented, and clothing and household items scattered around.
One neighbor told police that they had heard the sound of someone screaming and a fridge dragging.
The woman's sister reported that Thompson had admitted damaging the items and allegedly promised to pay for the damage. She also shared screenshots of a text conversation that corroborated her side of the story.
When police managed to contact Thompson on July 3, he told them that he had already made arrangements to replace the damaged items, and had made an initial payment of $400 towards that goal. He was nevertheless arrested and initially charged with third-degree burglary and destruction of property, both as acts of domestic violence, and was remanded into custody to await his advice of rights hearing.
In court on Friday, Magistrate Yolan Brow Ross found probable cause to charge Thompson only with second-degree burglary. She set bail at $50,000, with just $500 required in cash for Thomson to secure his release, with the remainder posted as an unsecured bond.
His next court appearance is scheduled for July 23.
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