Escapee in Custody, Person of Interest Arrested

A.J. Pike

ST. Croix - The VIPD has issued a statement that the public search for Samuel “Pilie” Rivera Jr. has ended and that he is now in custody. After somehow escaping police custody while still in handcuffs and barefoot, Mr. Rivera was considered armed and dangerous and wanted, as of this point,  on a charge of carrying a firearm openly or concealed. He was known to frequent the areas of Princess, Harbor View, Richmond, Profit and Calquohoun.

In what could be a related story, a 28-year old man, Ra’Kheel Velasquez, was arrested on Sunday, as a person of interest, with an unlicensed possession of a firearm, amid the multiagency investigation into the murder of Virgin Islands Police Department Officer Eustace Charles. 

Although the account of the incident is still sketchy, Mr. Velasquez was spotted exiting a vehicle, while it was still moving, with a siren wailing behind him, that was believed to have some connection to Officer Charles murder. Mr. Velasquez ran into the Richmond Housing community armed with an Anderson AM-15 rifle. He was subsequently found and arrested. 

He was taken to the Wilbur H. Francis Command police station, where he admitted to jumping out of the car and confirmed it was his rifle. His bail was set at $50,000. He was remanded to the John A. Bell Correctional facility ahead of his Advice of Rights hearing. 

A search warrant of Mr. Velasquez’s residence turned up another unregistered gun.