On Tuesday, during “Operation Set De Tone,” the Special Operations Bureau (SOB) Tactical Team conducted a traffic stop on a silver Jeep Cherokee along Queen Mary Highway in the vicinity of the old H&H Tire and Battery on St. Croix, resulting in an arrest, the V.I. Police Department reported.
The Jeep Cherokee was observed being operated without a license plate affixed to the front bumper, according to the report. Upon stopping the vehicle, the driver hastily jumped out of the vehicle and locked it behind him, raising the officers’ suspicion, it said. Based on the driver’s behavior, the officers asked him if he had anything illegal inside of his vehicle. The officers then conducted a K9 search of the vehicle using the K9 Narcotics Detection dog.
The K9 Narcotics Detection dog gave an indication of the presence of narcotics inside the vehicle, the report stated. As the driver, who was identified as 36-year-old Earl Shervington, opened the vehicle, the officers immediately smelled what appeared to be a strong odor of marijuana emanating from inside the vehicle. A search of the vehicle was then conducted, it said. Officers discovered a Glock 23 40-caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number, a loaded 10-round capacity magazine inside the magazine well and a live round also chambered. A single 15-round capacity magazine was also recovered, according to the police report.
Shervington was subsequently placed under arrest for carrying of a firearm openly or concealed and possession or sale of ammunition. His bail was set in the amount of $50,000, stated the report.
