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Mugshot of Rahkeem Swanston. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — On Tuesday at approximately 4:20 p.m., officers assigned to Phase 2 of the Virgin Islands Crime Initiative arrested 20-year-old Rahkeem Swanston of Estate Whim and charged him with unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession or sale of ammunition, police spokesman Toby Derima has announced.
According to the news release, officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle operated by Swanston on Melvin Evans Highway near the Good Hope intersection. During the traffic stop, officers discovered a loaded firearm in the vehicle. A check of the V.I.P.D.'s Firearms Bureau’s records verified Swanston did not possess a license to carry a firearm in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which resulted in his arrest.
Unable to make bail of $50,000, Swanston was remanded to the Bureau of Corrections pending his advisement hearing.
St. Croix District Chief of Police Sidney Elskoe expressed concern about this arrest. “This particular individual was arrested in July for another gun-related incident. If there are people in this community who are determined to possess illegal firearms, even after being arrested for having those firearms, we will find those persons and keep arresting them,” Chief Elskoe said. He praised the officers of the Virgin Islands Crime Initiative for their work in taking illegal guns off the streets, out of the hands of would-be shooters.
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