ST. CROIX — A group of young men dressed in black broke into three vehicles early Monday morning at Long Reef Condominiums and fled the area without being detected by police, marking the second time since mid-March that thieves have targeted vehicles in the gated parking lot and gotten away.
Kris Lafferty, a resident and owner at Long Reef who has lived there nearly a year, said she believes the suspects may be targeting rental cars specifically because the occupants are more likely to leave valuables behind. She said her vehicle, an older model with chipping paint, has not been targeted.
“I don’t believe this is vicious to a certain degree, but something needs to be done,” she said.
Lafferty said one of the residents whose car was broken into Monday had only recently moved in.
“She just bought this place, like a week ago, and it scared her half to death,” Lafferty said. “And I really felt bad for her because it would scare me too.”
Lafferty recalled an incident months ago when tourists who parked their vehicle off the street outside of the condo’s gated parking lot got robbed at gunpoint. She said the pattern of repeat incidents is concerning, particularly because surveillance cameras installed after the March break-ins did not appear to deter Monday’s intruders.
“They wear black hoodies, black masks, so they’ll get right up in those cameras and wave,” she said. “They don’t care about the cameras.”
Lafferty said Travis Holloway, Long Reef manager, told her the suspects were dressed in all black during Monday’s incident, and that he is now working to bring in a security guard at night.
“I guess it would give you a little sense of peace,” she said.
Residents took to Facebook to address the issue. In response to a comment, one resident contemplated if only VIPD had access to the gates they would have been able to enter the property. Another resident responded that police have gate codes on file and have used them in the past to respond to calls at the property. Island_Nurse_ratched, who started the post, indicated that officers did not attempt to enter the gated parking lot. “Never want to speak poorly of LEO [Law Enforcement Officers] because you don’t know everything they’re doing,” the post read. “But it was very frustrating to watch these guys run away when I was standing right over them and can see PD outside the gate. They were like 10 feet from each other.”
The incident was not the first time vehicles at Long Reef have been targeted.
Vehicles were also broken into in the condo parking lot back in March, prompting Holloway to distribute an email on March 18 with the subject line, “Reminder to Long Reef Owners and Tenants.”
In addition to informing the owners and tenants that there was a recent incident involving vehicle break-ins in the parking lot, Holloway offered three safety precautions. He urged the residents to avoid leaving valuables inside their vehicles, ensure their vehicles are locked when parked on the property, and contact police immediately if they notice anything unusual or suspicious.
Holloway confirmed the vehicle break-ins in the condo parking lot in mid-March and on Monday but declined to provide additional details.
The Virgin Islands Police Department is investigating both cases. Anyone with information related to either incident can contact 911, the Criminal Investigation Bureau at 340-778-2211, or Crime Stoppers VI at 1-800-222-8477.
