Mugshot of Joseph Ramirez. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. CROIX — A man was arrested last week on domestic violence and child neglect charges after allegedly threatening to kill his twin daughters.
According to court documents, police were alerted to the situation on July 9, after a woman approached a former law enforcement officer to seek help. The woman said that the father of her children had defied a restraining order and picked up the children early from daycare, without her knowledge or permission.
When the daycare called to inform her that the children were being picked up by their father, Joseph Ramirez, the woman said that she rushed to the facility with a copy of the restraining order, which had been issued in June. By the time she got there, however, the children and Ramirez were already gone.
The woman said that while driving home, she was flagged down by a vehicle that was following behind her. When she realized it was Ramirez, she pulled over.
Ramirez reportedly came over and began yelling and banging on her driver's side car window. When he flashed a black handgun he was holding, the woman said she feared for her life and quickly drove away.
She first stopped at the Ann Schrader Command to make a report, but the police station in the La Reine Shopping Center was closed.
Police also spoke to Ramirez's mother, who told them that her son had a history of verbal abuse and making threats towards the mother of his children. She indicated that he may require treatment for substance abuse and mental health concerns.
Police found Ramirez at an Estate Glynn service station. He was reportedly sitting with a knife in his hand, with his twin daughters sitting next to him. He tried to run away when police initially attempted to detain him, however officers were able to prevent him from fleeing.
When questioned about the gun, Ramirez directed them to his backpack, in which officers found a black firearm that turned out to be a pellet gun. Police also found a glass pipe, which Ramirez reportedly informed them he had used earlier to smoke crack cocaine and marijuana.
Police summoned emergency medical technicians to evaluate the children “due to their poor physical appearance,” and discovered what appeared to be a fresh burn on the left arm of one of the girls. Ramirez told officers that his daughter had gotten burned from a cigarette that he had been smoking. He was then arrested and charged with child neglect, third-degree assault as a crime of domestic violence, and disturbance of the peace.
Because Ramirez was awaiting sentencing on another matter having to do with the children's mother at the time of his arrest, he was also charged with contempt of court. He was remanded into custody to await his advice of rights hearing, which was scheduled for July 10.
However, as of press time, court records do not indicate any outcome of such a proceeding, or even whether last Thursday's hearing was actually held.
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