A St. Thomas man was stabbed in the back and side on this Cruz Bay street on Monday night, November 28.
Many residents who saw a V.I. Fire Service truck in Cruz Bay on Monday night, November 28, thought there was fire somewhere in town.
The truck, however, was used to wash away a pool of blood from the roadway in front of Uncle Joe’s Diner in the aftermath of a stabbing on the Cruz Bay street.
Classified as a first-degree assault by the V.I. Police Department, the incident began inside a Cruz Bay mini-mart, when several men began arguing.
“According to police report, a concerned citizen called the Leander Jurgen Command Monday and reported a fight in progress at the store,” according to a prepared statement by VIPD. “When officers arrived on the scene, they saw a 27-year-old man lying on his back with injuries to several parts of his body. The victim told police he was attacked by an unknown suspect as he entered the store.”
“The victim had stab wounds in his back and right arm,” according to the release. “He was taken to the Myrah Keating Community Health Center on St. John and then transferred to the Roy Lester Schneider Regional Medical Center on St. Thomas.”
According to the VIPD blotter, a St. Thomas resident reported that he had an altercation at Bayside Minimart at 7:36 p.m. It seemed that the altercation eventually led to the stabbing of the 27-year-old man, who was seen by several witnesses laying in the street bleeding profusely in front of the Cruz Bay Bracelet Company.
Residents and owners of businesses on the Cruz Bay street which leads from Connections to Uncle Joe’s BBQ, have been complaining about what amounts to an open air drug market for months. Recently, several VIPD officers have been spotted walking the street from time to time. The presence of VIPD officers, however, did nothing to deter last week’s violent crime.
“Due to how things are at night in this area of Cruz Bay, I have known for quite a while that something like this could happen at any time,” said one St. John citizen.
Residents in the area last Monday night heard shouts of “911” and saw blue lights flashing and a large pool of blood.
“I will never forget the sight of all that blood,” said the resident.
Several rumors were circulating last week about an altercation between several males which led to the stabbing. One scenario has several individuals trying to deter the would-be attacker, who was at large as of press time, to no avail.
“I was told by someone on the street that the victim was stabbed in the back by another male who had ‘come after him,’ when he did not like what was said to him in the mini mart,” said a St. John resident, who wished to not be identified. “I also heard that several individuals inside the mini mart had attempted to detain the attacker.”
The stabbing occurred sometime between 7:30 and 8 p.m. and spilled so much blood onto the Cruz Bay street that a fire department truck was called in to wash down the area.
“It was not splatter, more like an actual pool of blood,” said one eyewitness. “It could have been maybe a two feet by three feet pool. The entire street from the corner where the victim lay, to the corner where the post office is situated, was completely hosed down.”
There was no information available last week on how that action affected the ability of VIPD forensic officers to investigate the crime scene.
While violent crime is still not common place in Cruz Bay, the incident led at least two visitors to change their plans.
“I heard two tourists talking right after the incident,” said an eyewitness. “One of them said to the other, ‘You know, I think we need to change our plans, with what has happened and all.’ She then looked at me and remarked, ‘We were going to go out for drinks, but I think maybe we should just buy a bottle of wine and go home.’”
VIPD’s Criminal Investigation Bureau detectives are actively investigating this case. Anyone with any information is urged to contact detectives at 693-8800 ext. 5215 or 5213, or call Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-TIPS.