Mugshot of Kishawn Berkeley. By. THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS — A man appeared before the V.I. Superior Court Wednesday to face criminal charges after an altercation with another man left the victim nursing injuries at hospital, according to police.
Kishawn Berkeley, age 42, was arrested and charged on November 28 with third-degree assault and simple assault and battery following a Nov. 26 altercation where he slapped a victim so hard that the victim fell to back, sustained an injury to the back of his head, and lie on the ground unconscious for five minutes, according to the probable cause fact sheet.
The victim told police that the unprovoked assault occurred outside the Happy View Market in St. Thomas between 7:30 a.m and 8 a.m. on Saturday. Later that evening, detectives traveled to the Happy View Market to obtain surveillance footage of the incident.
In the video footage, the victim is seen walking across the street headed to the store but was stopped by an unknown man. The suspect was seen standing on the sidewalk with a beer can in his hand and was flailing his hands in the air before moving towards the victim and gesturing to hit him with the can at first. The suspect stayed in the victim’s face and continued to argue, and then shoved the victim with his shoulder. The victim was visibly intimidated by the man and attempted to get out of his way. However, the suspect slapped the victim, who then fell backwards and hit his head on the concrete floor, passing out outside of the store for about five minutes before waking up.
The surveillance footage showed blood running down the back of the victim’s head as he walked away from the scene. Police also observed blood, swelling and an open flesh wound on the back of the victim's head while they were interviewing him.
The victim was later admitted to the Schneider Regional Medical Center for treatment.
On Monday November 28, the man in the footage was identified by detectives as Kishawn Berkeley and he was subsequently placed under arrest.
In court on Wednesday, a judge ruled that Berkeley would be released pending trial upon the posting of $2,000 bail in cash. If he is able to secure his release, Berkeley will be barred from leaving the St. Thomas-St. John district and must report to the Office of Probation once a week. He is barred from having contact, directly or indirectly, with the victim or any witnesses in the matter. His next court appearance is on December 16, 2022.
