Virgin Islands police officers arrested two men Sunday after shots were fired in the Gallows Bay area of St. Croix, the V.I. Police Department reported.
At approximately 9:03 p.m., a VIPD detective relayed via radio that he heard shots fired from the Gallows Bay Area. As the detective approached Green Street, he observed a blue four-door Toyota Corolla exiting Green Street and two males with face coverings, according to the police report.
Detectives followed the vehicle, and patrol units made a traffic stop on the vehicle on Northside Road. The two individuals were ordered to exit the vehicle and detained. The driver, Ramon Mateo III, exited the vehicle and shouted, “I don’t consent to have
my vehicle searched,” the police report stated.
The assigned detective was able to obtain a telephonic search warrant for the vehicle. The vehicle was searched, and two firearms were recovered: a Glock-type ghost pistol firearm 9mm with a tan extended 31-capacity magazine with twenty-three 9mm rounds inside and an AR-type ghost gun with a black extended magazine with seven live .223 rounds. Both firearms had a round in the chamber. The scene on Green Street was processed, and multiple .223 and 9mm spent casings were recovered, the report stated.
The two men, Mateo, 27, and Califf J. Cassius, 20, were taken to the station, advised of their rights, and declined to provide a statement, it said.
Mateo and Cassius were charged with reckless endangerment, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and carrying or using an unlicensed firearm during a crime of violence. They were unable to post their $100,000 bail. Both were booked and transported to the John Bell
Correctional Facility pending their advice of rights hearing, police said.
