Criminal Investigation Bureau detectives on St. Thomas arrested 53-year-old former St. Thomas senator and perennial candidate Stephen "Smokey" Frett Tuesday at about 7:30 p.m and charged him with possession stolen property valued at more than $100.
Police said Frett was observed by surveillance cameras Dec. 13, leaving the Office Max store in the Tutu Park Mall with unpaid merchandise. Frett was arrested on a warrant issued by the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, which was signed on December 22. His bail was set at $10,000. Following his court appearance, Frett was released on his own recognizance.
Frett served as a V.I. senator in the 1990s and was voted out of office in 1998. He has run for the position of St. Thomas senator in each election since, garnering around 3,500 votes in the 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections and 2,853 votes in 2010. He usually campaigned for office as a member of the Independent Citizens Movement, but filed as an independent candidate at least once as well.
In an unrelated theft, bureau detectives also arrested 21-year-old Alex A. Harris Monday at about 5:45 a.m. Harris was charged with grand larceny after police said he took an unnamed female’s cell phone without permission. The incident occurred on General Gade. Harris was placed on $35,000 bail and remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections.
