Mugshot of Bryan Christiansen Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — A mechanic is now facing felony charges after he allegedly gave away a customer’s motorcycle to somebody else.
In the afternoon of Monday June 10, a man came to the Wilbur Francis Command police station to report that Bryan Christiansen, the owner of the Broken Toyz Body Shop, had reportedly given away his motorcycle to someone else.
According to court documents, the man said that in the summer of 2023, he took his black 1997 Honda MC motorcycle to Christiansen’s shop in Estate Princess. After some time of failing to receive any updates, he began trying to contact the mechanic by phone, with no success. A frequent traveler, the man told police that he also tried to visit Christiansen at his place of business whenever he was on island, but had not been successful in that endeavor either.
He finally made contact with the mechanic this January, the man told police. When he spoke to Christiansen, he was reportedly informed that some motorcycles had gotten damaged in a fire at his body shop. However, the mechanic admitted that the man’s black Honda MC was not one of those damaged. When the man asked about collecting his bike, however, Christiansen reportedly told him that he had given it to another customer whose motorcycle had been damaged in the fire. That customer was a member of a “biker crew” according to the mechanic, and he was given the bike to avoid encountering any problems with the man or his “crew”. Several people have reportedly seen the bike near the John F. Kennedy housing community.
After that revelation, the man filed a complaint against Christiansen with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs in May. DLCA advised him to file a police report, which he did. The man showed police his title for the motorcycle, and told them that he had paid $3,500 for it at the time of purchase.
Police contacted DLCA officials, who informed officers that Christiansen had told them the same story about giving the man’s motorcycle away to a member of a “biker gang”, whose own machine had been damaged in the purported fire. However, the mechanic steadfastly refused to provide anyone with the name or contact information of the individual to whom he had given the bike. When DLCA advised Christiansen that he needed to return the motorcycle to its legitimate owner, her reportedly offered a payment of $1000 to settle the matter instead.
DLCA also informed police that the business, Broken Toyz USVI, is not correctly licensed. The last time the business was registered was reportedly in 2011, and the body shop has been delinquent since 2013. Officers also discovered that there was no fire reported at the business this year or last year – a report had been made of a structural fire in August 2022, long before the customer dropped off his motorcycle for service.
Christiansen was arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and intentionally defective workmanship.
On Monday, Magistrate Yolan Brow Ross found probable cause to uphold both charges against him. Bail was set at $35,000, however Christiansen was only required to pay $1000 in cash in order to be released ahead of trial, with the remaining sum signed as an unsecured bond.
His next court appearance has been scheduled for October 16.
