Mugshot of Trevor Kyle Modeste-Etienne. By. THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — Police have arrested and charged a man for failing to report a firearm that he brought into the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Trevor Kyle Modeste-Etienne, a resident of Florida, was arrested on September 9 after the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport reported the discovery of an unsecured firearm.
According to documents before the court, while conducting a screening at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, an unsecured firearm was discovered in a passenger’s checked luggage. The owner of the luggage was later identified as Trevor Kyle Modeste-Etienne. According to one of the TSA officers who made the report, it is required that the lock box containing the firearm, or luggage itself, have a lock on. According to the court documents, when Modeste-Etienne was interviewed, he stated that he did not have a lock for the firearm lock box or for his checked luggage. He then admitted that when he arrived in St. Croix on September 2, he did not declare his firearm with the V.I. Port Authority or the Virgin Islands Police Department Firearms Division. He stated that he had traveled with the firearm for safety reasons.
According to the probable cause fact sheet, Modeste-Etienne was then asked to provide proof of a firearm license and he displayed a concealed weapon or firearm license issued by the state of Florida.
In the unsecured lock box, officers found a GLOCK 45 9mm firearm, one live round in the chamber, a 16 round capacity magazine which held 14 live rounds, an extended magazine holding 27 live rounds, for a total of 42 live rounds.
Officers of the VIPD Forensics Department were then called in and confirmed that Modeste-Etienne did not have a Virgin Islands Firearms License allowing him to possess or carry his firearm in the territory. He then stated that he was not aware that he was required to report his firearm to the VIPD — despite several signs prominently posted throughout the passenger and luggage area of the airport — about the procedures to follow when entering the Virgin Islands with a firearm. Modeste-Etienne was then placed under arrest.
In court on Monday, a judge ruled that Etienne would need to sign an extradition waiver to be able to return to Florida. Bail was set at $5,500 with the allowance for Etienne to post 10 percent of that amount to secure his release. He is to report to the office of probation every Tuesday between 8am and 4pm. He is to have no unlawful contact with the complainant or witnesses in this matter.
