ST. CROIX — The Virgin Islands Police Department has arrested 39-year-old Cleo Taylor, ending a two-week search connected to a series of hit-and-run incidents and a violent assault that left one longtime St. Croix resident with broken bones and deep lacerations that required stitches.
Taylor, named as a person of interest wanted for third-degree assault, was taken into custody at about 11:45 a.m. today, according to St. Croix Police Chief Uston Cornelius.
Her apprehension came about two weeks after police impounded a white Mercedes Benz she allegedly used in at least one pedestrian assault.
While Taylor was wanted in connection to a hit-and-run incident involving a white Mercedes and a pedestrian on October 23 in the parking lot of Pueblo in Estate La Reine, she was also a person of interest in an incident on Black Friday during which a woman was assaulted while jogging in Estate La Grange.
Police arrested Taylor at her residence in connection to the assault after obtaining an arrest warrant from the Superior Court, Cornelius said. She was charged with first-degree attempted murder, first- and third-degree assault, simple assault and battery, and disturbance of the peace.
“The Virgin Islands Police Department was trying to wrap up the last-minute paperwork as it relates to the warrant to get Miss Cleo Taylor,” Cornelius said. “The officers were successful in doing that. We proceeded towards the court, and we got the document signed. The officers, with the document in hand, set up to have the warrant executed, and we decided to have it done today.”
Shirlene Taylor, Cleo Taylor’s mother, indicated to WTJX that her daughter has been a mental health patient under the care of the Virgin Islands Department of Health for “quite some time.”
“Long before these unfortunate incidents occurred, I have been desperately trying to get her the long-term help and treatment she needs, but without success and to no avail,” according to Shirlene Taylor. “My daughter having suffered such a dangerous and drastic ‘break from reality’ to the point of injuring others, breaks my heart and I greatly and sincerely sympathize with the victims.”
The mother indicated that her response was by no means to point fingers or cast blame toward any specific agency. She outlined efforts by the executive branch and Legislature to pass legislation improving mental health treatment in the territory, including a bill approved in 2018 that appropriated $3 million for a long-term mental health facility on St. Croix that has yet to come to fruition.
Shirlene Taylor said she understands what happened with her daughter was “really awful,” but reiterated the need to bring awareness to the fact that “there’s no help out there.” She said she believes her daughter would not be accused of assault if she would have received proper care.
“If she’s not going to willingly take her medication, then she needs to be in a long-term care facility,” Shirlene Taylor said. “If they’re not going to build a facility, maybe they should consider using some of those monies for off-island treatment to house some of the mentally ill patients off island.”
At this point, Shirlene Taylor said the only help her daughter receives is when she gets admitted to the hospital. She said, however, that only lasts two or three days. She said she would like the government to provide her daughter with the long-term care she needs.
While Cleo Taylor’s arrest was in connection to the Estate La Grange assault, Cornelius said police could still connect her to the hit-and-run incident at Pueblo pending her identification by the victim after reviewing a photo array of suspects.
The VIPD also investigated other reports in reference to a white Mercedes striking citizens throughout St. Croix.
READ MORE: VIPD impounds white Benz suspected in hit-and-run incidents, Cleo A. Taylor named person of interest
Cleo Taylor’s arrest came after weeks of rising public concern, social media posts warning residents of hit-and-run incidents involving a white Mercedes, mounting pressure from the assault victim, and a direct call from Governor Albert Bryan Jr. for her swift apprehension.
READ MORE: Victim attacked by driver of white Benz shares painful account, calls for action to protect others
Attorney General Gordon Rhea issued a statement today confirming Cleo Taylor’s arrest.
“Our community deserves to feel safe, and acts of violence like this will not be tolerated,” he stated. “I commend the VIPD for quickly identifying and apprehending the suspect, and we will continue working to ensure accountability in this case.”
VIPD spokesperson Glen Dratte previously confirmed that Taylor was wanted in connection to the violent attack on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which was caught on a resident’s surveillance system.
The victim — who has lived on St. Croix for more than 40 years — suffered broken bones and received stitches for a severe head wound and deep cut on her hand. The Mercedes linked to Cleo Taylor was impounded from her residence just hours after the assault in Estate La Grange.
Cornelius said police realized a series of reported accidents involving a white Mercedes were possibly linked after the assault.
“By the time you start to say, ‘wait, these cases may be linked,’ then you have the case with the assault,” he said. “And that is how we started to key in that this is possibly the same person.”
The assault victim from Estate La Grange spoke with Marcellina Ventura-Douglas, WTJX NewsFeed radio reporter, in person on the condition that she not be identified due to privacy and safety concerns. She raised concerns about the VIPD’s investigation after being told she could not proceed with identifying her attacker from a photo array despite being called in to the police station to do so because the only available photo of Cleo Taylor was used in the wanted poster and therefore ineligible for a photo array.
Cornelius said, however, that police will continue to put together a photo array now that Cleo Taylor is in custody.
“Once the officers proceed with this case, they will take the necessary photographs so that now they could do a proper photo array, and then we could present it to the parties and see if they could ID who the person was,” he said.
As the VIPD plans to photograph Cleo Taylor, Dratte indicated via text message that no mugshot was available following her arrest today because she was “uncooperative.”
