Mugshot of Achille Alexander. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS — A man is facing several charges in the V.I. Superior Court after reportedly admitting to assaulting his girlfriend during a domestic disturbance.
Police were dispatched to the Schneider Regional Medical Center last Friday to investigate reports of a woman who had allegedly been assaulted by her boyfriend. Responding officers made contact with the woman who told them that the incident had occurred the day prior on the morning of February 22.
Her boyfriend, Achille Alexander, was reportedly upset because she declined to do a task that he had requested. During the argument that followed, the woman told police that Alexander punched her in the face several times before placing his hands around her neck and squeezing, hindering her ability to breathe.
He reportedly continued his attack by cutting her left forearm with a steak knife. Alexander, the woman said, overpowered her attempts at self-defense and pinned her face-down to the bed. Knowing of a health condition that affects her spine, the woman’s boyfriend nevertheless allegedly punched her repeatedly in the back, leaving her in extreme pain, and unable to move.
According to court documents, Alexander initially brought her to hospital on Thursday afternoon, but the couple decided to leave after a long wait with no treatment. They returned the next day, and the woman was seen by a doctor and prescribed pain medication for her injuries.
While at the medical facility, Alexander reportedly demonstrated aggression towards his injured girlfriend, prompting alarm from the staff who escorted the woman to the hospital director’s office. There, a social worker reportedly interviewed the woman, who disclosed what had happened to her at home. That social worker duly notified the police.
Police learned that the woman had filed at least four prior reports against Alexander. She told them that his previous attempts to strangle her had left wounds around her neck that despite being healed, were still visible. For their part, officers took note of the laceration to the woman’s left forearm, her bruised lips, and the wounds around her neck, which were indeed each at a different stage of healing.
Alexander turned up at the Domestic Violence Unit on Tuesday, February 27 to provide a statement. He reportedly admitted to assaulting his girlfriend several times but insisted that he did not mean to hurt her.
He reportedly became extremely aggressive when informed that he would be arrested, threatening to harm anyone who attempted to touch him and expressing a preference for death over incarceration. Eventually, authorities were able to arrest him.
He was charged with second-degree assault as a crime of domestic violence and remanded into custody to await his first court appearance.
Police say that the man’s girlfriend showed up at the police station, asking to recant her statement so that her boyfriend does not get into trouble. She admitted that what she told officers at the hospital was true, but said that she was forced to file a police report at the hospital because she needed somewhere to stay. The woman said that she lived in fear of Alexander, her boyfriend of three years.
In court on Wednesday, Magistrate Paula Norkaitis found probable cause to uphold the charges of second-degree assault, third-degree assault, simple assault and battery, brandishing a deadly weapon, and disturbance of the peace by threats, all as crimes of domestic violence.
Details of the release conditions granted to Alexander were not made available as of press time, and neither has his next scheduled court appearance.
Victims of domestic violence are able to find support by reaching out to the V.I. Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council (340-719-0144) and the Women’s Coalition of St. Croix (340-773-WCSC (9272)) on St. Croix, or the Family Resource Center Inc. (340-776-7867) on St. Thomas.
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