July 18, 2002 – A man was arrested and charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property Thursday afternoon after a police officer chased two assailants into the Savan area following the armed robbery of a woman in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
The pursuing officer saw Dwight "Exodus" Blyden, 36, throw a black handbag over a fence and retrieved the purse, which contained the victim's belongings except for a missing $150, according to a police release issued later in the day.
At about 1 p.m. Thursday, according to police, two men, at least one of them armed, approached a woman getting out of her vehicle near the intersection of Crystal Gade and Nye Gade, at the bottom of Synagogue Hill. They took her handbag at gunpoint and fled up Crystal Gade, where they were pursued by a police officer who had been in the vicinity.
During the chase, the suspects fired two shots at the police officer, who returned fire. No one was injured in the shooting, according to Sgt. Annette Raimer, police spokeswoman.
Once in the Savan area, police "lost track" of the suspects long enough for them to ditch the weapon or weapons, Raimer said.
When Blyden was apprehended, he was not carrying a gun. He was being held in lieu of $36,000 bail.
Police were continuing to seek the second assailant and asked that anyone with information about the case call 911 or 715-5522.
Editor's note: Erroneous information received from the police spokeswoman shortly after the incident indicated there were three suspects and that two of them had been apprehended. Franz Christian, Police commissioner, confirmed there were two suspects and that one had been arrested.
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