Cane Bay Beach Bar Robbery

From what I have heard, at least one of the houses was shuttered, such as a snow birds house or a vacation rental. That would be an advertisement to a burglar that no one was home and give plenty of time to take what they wanted. I also wonder if the people who maintain the houses, ie, a housekeeper or gardener could be inadvertently passing along the information to these thieves. Whenever we have to leave for an extended amount of time we always have a house sitter so our house is never unoccupied. We also have 3 very large dogs. Two outside and one inside. Neighborhood watches are great. If you don't have one in your area then try and organize one. About 5 months ago a young woman was parking a car in front of my house. Twice a day she was switching the car with another one. This went on for about a week. Three different neighbors came to my house wanting to know who's car it was and what was going on. Many times during the week neighbors were stopping to check the license plate. I was amazed at how well aware my neighbors were of who was coming in and out of the neighborhood. Posting signs in your yard, such as beware of dog or this house is protected by cameras or security might help as well.

I cannot quote crime statics here on STX but I will say I feel much safer here than where I last lived in the states. I lived in a transitional neighborhood that the city was revitalizing. It was not uncommon to have a crack house next to a million dollar home. I was known as the crazy lady at the end of the street. I have thrown rocks at cars that contained prostitutes coming down the street and let my dogs loose on drug dealers. They all decided that I wasn't worth the trouble. That might get me killed on STX but I will continue to be very aggressive in protecting my home. With that being said, on the issue of the peeping tom, maybe all your neighbors should lay in wait for the peeping tom and have a rock throwing party. Or you can borrow my husbands paintball gun. It kills mice very well. Yuk, what a mess.

Have a good day

Tam

Good for you, Tam. I asked my neighbor if my dogs barked when I was gone because I was concerned they might disturb people & she told me she was glad I had them because they only barked at people who weren't regulars to our building.

Every worker or cable guy I've had come by always says, as the dogs are barking at them from my deck & I'm trying to shut them up, "That's OK, they're just doing their job."

I always figure that thieves are lazy or they'd work for a living so I'd think they'd go to a house without dogs more often than one without. It's just easier. It's sure not 100% but does put the odds a bit more in your favor.

last year it was 2 days before Halloween but this year it was Friday night ....... they hit Norma's in thee rain forest (Domino club).....(.nobody hurt , just punched and kicked.)..... and then they drove to shorties and robed them also .........at grove during another robbery Friday night a by-stander was shot in the chest and died at the hospital...friend of mine works in radiology....looks like the same as last year 4 guys 1 in the car and three running in at opposite sides of the property......all 3 had guns this year...........one of the top reasons for home robberies.....to get guns.....according to some of my friends who are cops here on island...........lock your doors and bolt your bars its October again..............all the robberies on North shore happened between 6:30 and 8:00....last year and seem to be following the same pattern this year...........be safe .........

I also heard that it happens every October. Don't know what the significance of the month is though. I am heading over to Norma's right now. Yumm, chicken and jonny cake. I will take my machete with me for protection.

dougtami,
Don't bring a knife to a gun fight.

This is nothing new. Due to its isolation, the North Shore gets hit all the time. Full Moon Bar, Spratnet, Bogeys, etc. they have all been hit many times. And they will be hit again.

Every single bar/resturaunt onisland has been hit more than once. Sunset Grill? Hit many times. Rainbow Beach Club? Hit. Paradise Cafe? Hit many many times. No Bones Cafe? Hit. Club 54? Hit. Kendrick's? Hit. The list goes on.

Crime has always been present on STX, on all parts. I personally know many people who have been touched by it first hand. But, I still love the island and would never leave. Sure, there is less crime on St. John, but that's because it has less than 10% of STX's population. It's like comparing a big city to a small town, Sure, the small town will have much less crime, but it will also be much more boring, Everytime I go to STJ, I bore of it quickly. Yes, the beaches are great, but other than that, I perfer STX. Much more going on and many more cool people.

Anyway, enough ranting. There are two things you can do that will make a BIG difference in crime on STX:

1. Don't be in places where you shouldn't be after dark. The back streets of C-sted for example.

2. Get a Curzan Security System, better known as a dog. Many West Indians are afraid of dogs and will NOT go near them. The local cruzan mutt "breed" (you know: tan color with a black snout) are VERY good guard dogs. Our dog will not bark at people he knows, but man oh man he will bark like mad at strangers. I have seen West Indians literally run in fear when he starts barking. I have been onisland for many years, living right near town, and I've never had a single incident. Yet, I know friends a block away that have been burglarized, and guess what? They didn't have a dog.

How presumptuous of you to make such a statement about your burglars being West Indian. Would you report to the police a suspicious truck of white people carting off belongings from someone's house? Probably not. We have quite a lot of people that have come to these islands from all over the world. Don't rule anyone out. I read today's article about the Domino Club. Nowhere did it say where the robbers were from.It say it was done too quickly to even try and identify them.

RL

Ronnie's comment reminded me of something that happened to me years back.

When I lived in D.C., a man was doing something entirely inappropriate from behind the window in his house facing the street such that women might witness his, um, festivities. I called the police to report the crime, and the operator asked, "Is the man hispanic or black?" I was flabbergasted and, in fact, the man was as white as George Washington.

It's a crazy world, eh!?

Let

p.s. Turned out that he was a serial demonstrator, and that I was the first to report him demonstrating for an adult rather than a child (and the thirteenth person to report him at that). But even after they caught the guy and asked me to identify him, they couldn't press charges because pleasuring yourself in public is a misdemeanor (indecent exposure is all), which a cop has to witness in order to charge for. Yikes! Its not just in the V.I. that the law sometimes fails to provide a net tight enough to catch criminals.

I was there Friday night at Norma's....they were Cruzans.........anything else Ronnie...........these guys did this same thing last year...... steal a car rob a bar ........leave the car and steal another...... ..I was at Bogeys last year when it was robbed and wasted my time with the cops and the FBI..........nothing was done...........and just for your information allot of people at the Domino club on Friday night were never even asked a question..........including one of the girls behind the bar..........so get off the fence............. this happens every year and even if the police find the guys the judge will probably let them go.......on another note the car (Samurai mikes) that was stolen at Calvin's and used in Norma's robbery was found ......also the gun that killed the kid was in the car.......I talked to the police yesterday at Norma's and there are no "credible " leads at this time

Ronnie, is the story online anywhere? I haven't been able to find it in any of the online papers that I read - maybe they don't want tourists to read about it.

umm texas girl you need to understand the concept of tommorrow down here, if it happened on friday it won't be in the avis until tuesday probally or the vidaily until tues or weds it's the way the papers here are published avis is a sat/sun edition and the daily is a sun/mon edition

In reference to the home burglaries, I was told this morning that the thieves are driving a large white box truck with no markings. The police have said to call 911 if you see this truck.

snapper, I guess I should have put NugBazer in my remarks. He was the one talking about West Indians, not you, that I can recall. Now you say they are Crucians. That's another interesting comment. By the way Cruzan is a rum!
As here in St Thomas, there is usually a rash of burglaries before Christmas and Carnival. Go figure.

RL

sorry.....Ronnie...........the Daily News ran the Domino and shortys bar story...... all 3 paragraphs in today's paper........calling the bars Fredrihstad restaurants

this years robberies sounds just like last year when we owned full moon beach bar, but in that robbery someone got pistol whipped. are they doing the same in the recent robberies?

yes

"They were Cruzans"

I consider myself a Crucian, but I'm assuming you don't mean they were old white women. Say what you mean, they were black.

Sounds like someone could make a lot of money installing security measures but who wants the bars and all that in paradise. Crime is always a problem with any and all races, crime has no color. Be careful, be aware, and do all that you can to protect your hard earned valuables. No matter how smart we are there is always a smarter criminal because there is ALWAYS opportunity. Sounds like the local force is not helping much either. Good luck all and hope to see some of you very soon.

Wes

Guys, c'mon! Don't get all PC on me. OF COURSE not ALL criminals on St. Croix happen to be West Indians, but the vast, majority of them are, especially muggers and burglars. It's a fact, and if you've lived on the island for any length of time, you would know that.

I'm just trying to give prudent advice. If you wanna safeguard yourself against burglaries and whatnot on St. Croix, then you need to take West Indians into consideration -- they are 90% of the population for cryin' out loud!. To do otherwise would be unresponsible and pointless. You can be as PC as you want, but at the end of the day, the facts are the facts.

I ask you: WHERE in my post did I say that all West Indians are criminals? Huh? Tell me where. I DIDN'T. You decided to imply that meaning. For your information, I have several good friends who happen to be West Indian.

If you think I'm full of it, then ask around. Ask the owners of all the places I named above if the perpetrators on ALL their burglaries are West Indian or not. Just ask them and see what they say. Then, ssk anyone you know who has ever been mugged on St. Croix if their assailants were West Indian or not. Just ask. I think you may be surprised at their answers.

BTW people, Cruzan and West Indian are NOT the same thing -- c'mon.

In closing, I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers. I'm just trying to be realistic and practical and give GOOD ADVICE that might help you stay out of harm's way. Don't turn it into a racist thing, because IT'S NOT.

Again, you missed my point. My definition of "West Indian" is - born in the West Indies. You seem to have a different definition. Are you saying that every baby born in the West Indies is dark skinned? That is obviously not correct.

Most criminals in the USVI are dark-skinned because 85% of the population is dark-skinned. And many of the other 15% caucasian residents are middle-aged or older, not a high-crime demographic.

I am totally confused. What is a West Indian? What is a cruzan? Are black Puerto Ricans West Indian. Are white Puerto Ricans hispanic or white? Someone please enlighten me.

Tam

dougtami,
I am as confused as you are except "cruzan" is rum, and "crucian" the people of STX., I Think.

Thanks for the correction Lizard. LOL

Tam

Nug,

Don't worry. While it is important for people to be conscious in how they use ethnic and racial identifiers, I don't think there is a racist implication to your original post. Arguably an ethno-centric one at most, but that doesn't really appear to be the case either.

You are right that dogs are very effective deterrents here. It makes good sense to have them hanging around! Plus, they're pretty cute.

Let

Thanks, letahl, I appreciate that.

As for the other stuff, let me clarify:

1. My definition of West Indian is "decended from the West Indian culture", you know -- the indigineous population. As Linda pointed out, there are some whites that were born in the West Indies, and technically they are West Indians, too. However, for all practical purposes, they are not what I mean when I say "West Indian". Everyone I know on STX means "non-white" when they say "West Indian".

2. Cruzan and Crucian are the SAME. They are just different spellings of the same word. "Cruzan" is the older spelling, but is now being phased out by the newer "Crucian" Therefore, "Cruzan" does NOT only refer to the rum -- that is a misconception. The reason the rum is spelled the way it is is because when the rum was started only the "Cruzan" spelling existed.

Check out the following links to confirm what I'm saying:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruzan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucian
http://www.answers.com/cruzan

3. dougtamii, to answer your question, yes, Puerto Ricans are West Indians. They are also Hispanic. The terms are not mutually exclusive. The following definition of what the West Indies are may help clarify: http://www.answers.com/west+indian?cat=travel