Police patrolling the Market Square area of St. Thomas saw an Acura with no front license plate and a tinted cover over its rear plate Friday night. In the car, police found cannabis, two handguns, a black ski mask, and ammunition, some of which was lying loose on the car’s floor, according to court records.

The car’s driver, Shane Forbes, and passenger, Kevin Warrel, were both charged with unauthorized possession of ammunition and two counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm. Bail for each was set at $75,000 and, unable to post bail, they were transferred to the Corrections Bureau pending their advice of rights hearings Saturday, police said. It is unclear from the court docket whether they remain in jail as the pretrial release orders posted on the Superior Court docket were not available for public viewing.

The Virgin Islands Police Department officers told the Superior Court they’d followed the Acura to Mannassah Hill Road. During the traffic stop, the officers said they saw suspicious movement in the car and ordered the occupants to get out. When they did, the officers said they saw cannabis in the vehicle as well as a backpack with a gun in it. Neither Forbes nor Warrel acknowledged ownership of the backpack.

A second handgun, modified to fire like a machine gun, and an extended 40-round magazine were also found in the vehicle, according to court records.

Forbes, 21, was previously arrested on handgun charges in November 2023. He told police he witnessed a friend being robbed in Frenchtown shortly before dawn. When the supposed assailant shot his friend in the leg they fled, crashing Forbes’ Toyota into another car at the intersection with Veterans Drive, according to court records.

Forbes later changed his account of the event, police said. In the second telling, Forbes drove through a yellow light, hit the other car, and his friend in the passenger seat shot himself in the leg while trying to climb out the window.

Forbes told police he threw his friend’s gun in a vacant lot, according to court records. Police later found the handgun with the help of a K-9 unit.

The driver of the other vehicle had a similar but slightly different story. While driving west on Veterans Drive with his four-year-old grandson, the man passed through a green light at Frenchtown. Forbes’ Toyota sped through the intersecting red light, slamming into the man’s Honda so violently that it spun the car around to face east. The driver and his grandson fled when they heard a gunshot and people shouting that someone had shot themselves, according to court records.

Forbes faced six charges, including misrepresentation of a felony. In a deal with prosecutors, Forbes pleaded guilty to a single count of interfering with an officer. He was given a one-year suspended sentence and a $200 fine.

On March 27, 2024, Superior Court Judge Denise M. Francois ordered Forbes to not violate Virgin Islands laws again.