Mugshot of Rossille Delande. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. CROIX — Rosille Delande has been arrested in connection with an April automobile collision that left one woman dead and two others nursing serious injuries.
According to court documents, the VIPD’s Traffic Investigation Bureau on April 23 responded to reports of a two-vehicle collision just before 4:00 a.m. When they arrived at the location on Northside Road Rt. 75, near Titan Service Station, they found both vehicles in the northwest-bound lane, having collided head-on. One, a silver Toyota RAV4, had sustained “disabling damage” according to police, with a crumpled front bumper, hood, grill, left and right fenders, a broken windshield, left and right headlights, and extensive damage to both front doors, the front right wheel, dashboard, steering wheel, and undercarriage. Both front airbags were deployed.
The grey GMV Envoy that hit the RAV4 was also disabled, with a similar list of damaged components
The unresponsive body of 27-year old Jahniqua Williams was laying over the center console of the silver RAV4. Shortly afterwards, paramedics on the scene confirmed that she had no vital signs. Her passenger, as well as the driver of the grey GMC Envoy Rossille Delande, were both transported to the Juan F. Luis hospital for treatment.
The passenger of the RAV4 was found to have suffered a fractured hip, along with facial injuries. After having being airlifted to Miami for further care, it was discovered that her left hip, pelvis and leg had been broken. Bones around her right eye and jaw had been broken. She also suffered from internal bleeding and a collapsed lung, and a tooth had been knocked out by the force of the impact.
Before being flown out of the territory, the passenger was able to tell police that she and Ms. Williams had been heading west in their lane when the grey Envoy, headed in the opposite direction, swerved into their lane and collided with them head-on. When they initially saw the headlights of the oncoming vehicle, the initial thought of the occupants of the RAV4 was that the approaching SUV might have been dodging a pothole. However, the vehicle did not return to its lane. The passenger said that she and Ms. Williams looked at each other in confusion, and then she felt a hard impact shortly thereafter, following which, everything went silent.
Subsequent investigations showed that the collision occurred with such force that Ms. Williams’s body had been thrown forward, causing her head to hit the windshield and her body to hit the steering wheel. The impact was sufficient to bend the steering wheel of the RAV4, the police report notes. Investigations deduced that none of the three women were wearing seatbelts when the collision occurred.
The steering wheel of Ms. Delande’s GMC Envoy was also bent out of place from the force of the impact of her body following the collision. She too had been flown off-island to receive medical care for her injuries, which included a punctured liver and internal bleeding.
When questioned by police on the night of the collision, Ms. Delande said that she did not remember anything about the collision, nor where she was coming from. However, based on the fluorescent paper wristband she was wearing on the night in question, police were able to deduce that she had been at the Coconuts Nightclub.
On May 5, an attorney representing Rosille Delande called the investigating officer to indicate that although she had been released from the hospital, her client was still off-island receiving medical treatment. She promised that Ms. Delande would report to police when she returned to St. Croix, by “the middle of next week” to provide a statement.
It does not appear that Ms. Delande provided the statement, however, and on June 27 a warrant was issued for her arrest.
VIPD officers reportedly tracked Rosille Delande down to her workplace and arrested her on Friday, June 30, on charges of involuntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and negligent driving, She was able to post the $50,000 bail that was assessed, and is now awaiting her first appearance before the court, which has not yet been scheduled.
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