ST. THOMAS — A man is now in legal hot water after apparently trying to evade police attempting to execute a traffic stop.
On Friday evening, VIPD officers were conducting traffic enforcement on Kommandants Gade when they spotted a red Jeep SUV with a fully tinted windshield and an expired registration sticker.
The driver, Elijah Penn, was stopped and told to pull over. According to the police narrative, he began to drive leftward as if to comply with the officers’ order, but then made a sudden, sharp right turn and accelerated quickly back onto the roadway.
Penn then reportedly overtook a vehicle and left the scene of the traffic stop. The officers followed in their marked police vehicle. They found him near Norre Gade, stopped in traffic in front of the St. Thomas Federal Credit Union.
This time, Penn was successfully stopped and promptly arrested, charged with delaying and obstructing, as well as disobeying a lawful order. He was also cited for the original infraction, the illegally tinted windscreen.
Penn paid the initial $500 bail following his arrest and appeared in court on Monday for his advice of rights hearing. He appeared before Magistrate Simone VanHolten-Turnbull, who did not find probable cause for the charge of disobeying orders. The judge also modified bail to require only the posting of $100 in cash, with the remaining $400 as an unsecured bond.
Penn must now report to the probation office in person each week, and may not leave the district without the court’s written permission.
His next court appearance is scheduled for July 11.
British Caribbean News
