April 17, 2008 — Rupert Walters, 33, of Estate Pastory, St. John, was arrested around 5 p.m. Monday on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of a controlled substance.
According to a police statement Thursday, police were tipped off by someone who smelled marijuana near the Nature's Nook building in Cruz Bay.
When police arrived they saw Walters and others, noticed the smell of marijuana and observed Walters walking away. Walters was detained and searched by police who found a handgun in his front pocket. They also found ammunition along with what appeared to be marijuana in his back pockets.
Police recovered a Taurus .38 Special handgun with six bullets and a speed loader with six bullets along with an unspecified amount of marijuana from Walters’s pockets.
Walters told police he found the weapon “in a trash can” and did not have a permit. Unable to post a $25,000 bail, Walters was remanded to custody.
Police Commissioner James H. McCall congratulated the St. John force for taking another gun off Virgin Islands streets. It is the fourth weapon recovered on St. John this year.
"Territorially, we have already surpassed last year’s halfway mark for gun recovery," McCall said.
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