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Police Asking for Help Solving Violent Crime

Oct. 1, 2004 – A 16-year-old St. Thomas girl told police she was kidnapped by five men on Main Street Wednesday afternoon and driven to an undisclosed location where all the men took turns raping her. Police are appealing to anyone who may have been in the area to assist the investigation by telling authorities what they may have seen.
According to police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Hannah, the incident took place Wednesday shortly after 3 p.m.
"Between the hours of 3 pm and 3:20 pm a 16-year-old female reported that she was on Commandant Gade, and as she was there on the street there was a group of guys that made comments to her. She indicated she ignored them and she walked towards Main Street. Somewhere along Main Street a black vehicle pulled up containing five males, one of whom had a silver gun, pointed it at her, forced her into the vehicle and took her to an area unknown to the young lady," Hannah said.
The unidentified victim then told police she was forced to perform sexual acts with all five males. When the alleged assault was done, investigators were told by the girl she was driven to the Sub Base area by the same men and let out of the car. From there, police said she walked home.
Hannah said the victim's relatives then drove her to the hospital.
Police say they want to hear from anyone who may have been in the area of Commandant Gade, also called Garden Street, or the area of Main Street near the Garden Street intersection, who may have seen a girl get into a vehicle.
According to the director of a social service agency that operates in the Commandant Gade area, there should have been a lot of activity around 3 p.m. Wednesday.
"It's not a large area but it's large enought that it could have been anywhere in the Commandant Gade area. I know certain parts of this area are very busy. It's a residential area. Folks are at home at 3:20 in the afternoon. School's letting out, it's a very busy time with parents doing
pick-ups," Sandra Hodge, executive director of the Family Resource Center, which is also on Commandant Gade, said.
The Wednesday incident seemed to chafe community sentiment, which was already sensitive to incidents of violent crime, following a Monday incident near the Kirwan Terrace Housing Community where a 4-year-old boy was shot and killed while sitting in the back of a car. Senator Roosevelt David issued a statement Friday calling on the government to seek help for local police and take a more aggressive stance on violent crime.
"This is baffling to me, a street that is host to a private parochial school, numerous bed and breakfasts and small businesses, is wrought with violent individuals and I have yet to see police patrol this area," he said.
Commandant Gade is a short street running north of the Alvaro DeLugo Sr. Post Office on Main Street at the foot of Government Hill. All Saints Cathedral School is also located on Commandant Gade.
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