Two barefoot men robbed the Coral Bay Domino gas station at gun point in broad daylight around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 27.
The men, who walked out of the bush behind the station, each had a gun and wore black scarves wrapped around their heads and baseball caps, explained Jinaldo Alrich, who was working at the station with his cousin Gary Clen-dinen at the time of the robbery.
“We were sitting with our backs turned as usual talking and didn’t notice them coming up,” said Alrich. “They said, ‘don’t move,’ and I thought they were joking.”
When one of the men fired his weapon, Alrich quickly realized the two weren’t fooling around.
The bullet whizzed past Clendinen’s head, according to reports.
One of the barefoot men was clad in a red t-shirt while the other was wearing a black one, and both were wearing black basketball shorts, Alrich explained.
The robbers made off with Alrich’s cell phone and money from his pocket in addition to a large amount of cash from the cash register, according to V.I. Police Department spokesperson Monyka Johnigan.
“One employee was robbed on his person and they also robbed the till,” said Johnigan. “They fled on foot through the bush and there were no injuries reported.”
Another cousin of Alrich’s later found the stolen cell phone by the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center, but the money was not recovered, Alrich explained.
VIPD officers arrived on the scene quickly, Alrich added.
“The cops didn’t take too long to come up,” he said. “They were here as soon as possible. The whole thing took less than five minutes.”
There have been no arrests yet, but police are continuing to investigate the incident, according to Johnigan.
“Police are following leads and investigating the situation,” Johnigan said.
Anyone with information is urged to call the VIPD’s Leander Jurgen Command at 693-8880.