Mugshot of Delfi Chanel Rodriguez De Leon. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. THOMAS — Police responding to an early-morning car crash on Kronprindsense Gade found an unlicensed firearm inside the overturned vehicle after it was flipped back onto its wheels.
According to court records, officers were dispatched to the scene in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, where they found a white Honda Accord overturned on its roof with a man trapped inside. The driver, later identified as Delfi Chanel Rodriguez De Leon, was pulled from the vehicle after officers cut through the deployed airbag. Emergency medical technicians transported him to the hospital for treatment.
Once a wrecker service arrived and flipped the car upright, one of the officers shone a flashlight inside and spotted a firearm on the driver’s side floorboard. Forensic technicians secured the weapon, identifying it as a Glock 23 .40-caliber handgun that had been modified for automatic fire. The magazine contained 12 live rounds of ammunition.
Investigators charged De Leon with multiple offenses, including possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of a modified firearm, possession of ammunition without a license, failure to report a firearm brought into the Virgin Islands, failure to maintain control of a vehicle, negligent driving, and operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license.
He was remanded into custody pending his advice-of-rights hearing, which was scheduled before Magistrate Paula Norkaitis on Wednesday. As of press time, however, officials had not confirmed whether the hearing took place.
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