ST. THOMAS — A woman who reportedly assaulted a bartender at an establishment in Hospital Ground is now facing charges before the V.I. Superior Court.
Coleen Edwards is accused of striking the female bartender in the face with a glass bottle during an argument on June 1. The woman says she was serving drinks to customers at Such is Life Bar and Cafe when Edwards came in and started an argument. The verbal confrontation escalated, the injured woman said, when Edwards struck her in the face with an object she could not identify at the time. After being taken to the hospital by people nearby, she was found to have suffered a fractured jaw as well as contusions and lacerations to the left side of her face.
Edwards presented herself to police on June 9 following the publication of a wanted poster on social media. She told officers she was at the rear of the bar on that afternoon when the bartender approached her. The woman appeared intoxicated, she said, and was arguing about a set of her keys that had gone missing and were subsequently returned. Edwards claimed that the bartender attempted to approach her armed with a knife but was prevented from doing so, so the bartender resorted to throwing glass bottles. The bottle that struck the bartender, Edwards told police, was thrown in self-defense.
After investigating the matter, Edwards was arrested and charged with first-degree assault, third-degree assault and simple assault, mayhem, three counts of possession of a dangerous weapon during a crime of violence, and three counts of reckless endangerment. She was remanded into custody to await her advice of rights hearing.
In court on Tuesday, Magistrate Simone VanHolten-Turnbull found probable cause to uphold most of the charges against Edwards, except two counts of reckless endangerment. The judge allowed for the posting of $5000 in cash for Edwards to secure her release from detention; the remaining $70,000 will be accepted as an unsecured bond.
Once released, Edwards will be required to begin providing written proof of searching for work. She will have to remain at least 50 feet away from her alleged victim at all times, and is further banned from the premises of Such is Life bar. Her next court appearance has been scheduled for June 27.
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