The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of the Virgin Islands on Thursday filed charges against Shemelle Isaac for what law enforcement said was his role in the Sept. 19 robbery of St. Thomas jewelry store Gems & Gold.
According to U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert Shemelle, Isaac was charged with accessory after the fact, possession of stolen property, and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
According to court documents, on Friday, Dec. 11, Tashawn Warner was arrested for his role in the robbery of the Gems & Gold Corner jewelry store in St. Thomas, which occurred on Sept. 19. Immediately prior to his arrest, Warner was seen loading bags into the trunk of a 2020 Gray Toyota Corolla registered to him, the records show. After Warner closed the trunk and entered the Corolla, a Black Infinity G37x drove towards Warner at a high rate of speed and stopped next to Warner’s vehicle. Warner exited the Corolla, removed the bags from the trunk of the Corolla, and placed them into the trunk of the Infinity G37x.
Warner then briefly opened and closed one of the passenger side doors of the Infinity G37x, which then drove off. As Warner got back into the Corolla, he was arrested.
At the same time that Warner was being placed into custody, Shemelle Isaac was observed walking from the direction where the Infinity G37x had driven off, holding a child. Isaac entered a residence briefly then approached the arresting agents (without the child) and identified himself as “Shawn,” a friend of Warner’s.
Following Warner’s arrest, the Infinity G37x was found parked around the corner from Isaac’s residence in front of another residence. While agents were photographing the Infinity G37x, the hood was checked and found to still be warm, as if the vehicle had recently been driven. VIPD officers called for a tow truck. The officers saw bags inside the passenger area of the vehicle.
While agents were awaiting the tow truck, Shemelle Isaac approached on foot and said the vehicle was his, but it was registered to his girlfriend. Shemelle Isaac confirmed he was aware of the article in the paper relating Warner’s arrest warrant for his involvement in the jewelry store robbery and was coming up to speak to Warner about it. Shemelle Isaac insisted he needed his daughter’s diaper bag out of the car, because it contained her milk.
However, when agents offered to give him the bag only after they searched it for contraband, he refused.
Agents obtained a search warrant for both the Corolla and the Infinity G37x. They searched the (diaper) bag, which contained a fully loaded Glock 17 in a holster. Inside the trunk of the vehicle, agents located a duffel bag containing an unloaded Glock 26, three loaded AK-47 style rifles, four Glock magazines, three AK-47 magazines including a drum magazine, rifle ammunition and a sandwich bag containing five gold necklaces and a bracelet. Agents confirmed with the owner of the Gems & Gold Corner jewelry store that the recovered jewelry was part of the jewelry stolen during the robbery that took place Sept. 19. Based on a combined weight of the found pieces of jewelry shown to the owner, the owner estimated the price of the found pieces as approximately $26,000.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and the Virgin Islands Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Juan Albino.
