Mugshot of Sonan Hodge. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. CROIX — A man is facing assault charges after a violent robbery left the victim dazed and bloody.
Just before 9:30 pm on July 4th, police were informed of a possible robbery in the vicinity of the WIR Supermarket. Responding officers found an adult male near Mon Bijour Metal Shop, clad only in his boxers and bleeding copiously from the top of his head. His entire upper body was covered in blood, officers noted.
Speaking to them in Spanish, the man told police that he was waiting for his brother-in-law at the Mon Bijou dumpsite about half an hour earlier, when he was accosted by two men. They began assaulting him and relieving him of his personal items and clothing. The first suspect, described by the man as a brown-skinned Hispanic male with shoulder-length locks, hit him on the head four times with a machete, while the other assailant, described as short and dark-skinned with a short afro and wearing an empty gun holster on his waist, punched him several times about the body.
The men took his wallet, shoes, shirt and pants, the robbery victim told police. One man fled the scene on his bike, while the afro-haired suspect, who was allegedly armed with an air rifle during the robbery, walked away from the scene.
The bleeding man ran towards the supermarket, where a concerned bystander called 911 on his behalf. His assailants netted $40 in cash from the robbery, as that was all that was in the wallet they stole, the man told police.
While emergency medical technicians were preparing the victim to be transported to the hospital emergency room, investigating officers went to the Mon Bijou dumpsite to search for suspects. They came across Sonan Hodge, who was wearing a police duty belt with an empty firearm holster. Hodge was detained and taken to where the victim was for identification. The injured man began pointing at the suspect, appearing fearful, police said. Hodge was identified as one of the two who had robbed the man, and thus was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery, first and third-degree assault, and possession of a deadly weapon during a crime of violence.
In court on Wednesday, the original bail amount of $75,000 was maintained by Presiding Judge Yolan Brow-Ross, who ordered that Hodge post a secured bond for the full amount before he can be released ahead of trial. Prior to this arrest, Hodge had been out on bail for a matter arising from 2021, where he faces charges of third-degree assault and disturbance of the peace, crimes of domestic violence from an incident in which he hit his intimate partner with a machete. He is awaiting trial on that matter, while his arraignment on the new charges is scheduled for July 19.
The second assailant in the robbery remains at large.
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