Mugshot of Rashad Creque. By. THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS — One man is facing fresh felony charges after police reportedly found a gun in his possession following a traffic stop for running a red light.
According to court documents, on Sunday VIPD officers were traveling east on Veterans Drive when they were almost hit by a gold Honda Civic which swerved into their lane. Officers immediately initiated a traffic stop, pulling the vehicle over into the Gottlieb's Service Station.
The driver, identified as Rashad Creque, reportedly began apologizing for running the red light as soon as he got out of the vehicle, and was directed to the back of the vehicle to be patted down.
As the officer conducted the pat down, he alerted his colleagues that Creque had a firearm, located to the front of his waistband. Asked whether he had a license for the weapon, Creque answered in the negative.
He was immediately handcuffed and the firearm removed from where he had reportedly concealed it. While waiting for the forensics team, Creque reportedly told police, “I just got outta jail. I’m not supposed to be around guns like that.”
The weapon was identified by forensic technicians as a black Glock 19 9mm pistol, with a legible serial number.
Creque was indeed found not to possess a license to carry a firearm in the territory. Investigators also discovered that Creque had recently been released from prison after pleading guilty to discharging a firearm and was currently undergoing a 44-month period of supervised probation. One of the conditions of probation ordered by Superior Court Judge Sigrid Tejo was that he not possess any firearms or dangerous weapons.
Creque was arrested and charged with unauthorized possession of an unlicensed firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition. Unable to pay the initial bail of $50,000, he was remanded into custody to await his first court appearance.
At Creque’s advice of rights hearing on Monday, Magistrate Simone VanHolten-Turnbull found probable cause to uphold both charges against him. She allowed the payment of 10 percent of the set bail, and required him to report twice weekly to the probation office in person.
Creque must also surrender his driver’s license and conduct a weekly work search, submitting written proof to the probation office. Once again, the court has ordered Creque to stay away from firearms, ammunition and other dangerous weapons.
His next court appearance is scheduled for February 23.
