St. Croix man held after officers find ammunition cache in raid

Officers from the Virgin Islands Police Department's Special Operations Bureau carried out an early morning operation on October 6 at a property on St. Croix, resulting in the arrest of a local resident on ammunition-related charges.

Abdul Pemberton, who lives in Estate All For The Better, was taken into custody around 3:53 a.m. when tactical teams and detectives executed a search and arrest warrant at #66 All For The Better. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Christopher Timmons Sr. had authorized the warrant in late September.

According to a probable cause document filed by VIPD Detective Sarah Velez, the location contained both a front duplex and a separate rear structure. When Entry Team officers breached the rear building, Pemberton ran out through the back door and moved toward an outdoor work shed along the eastern side of the property. An officer stationed on that perimeter intercepted him in the yard. Police stated Pemberton was alone inside the rear structure.

During questioning after his arrest, Pemberton told officers that he bolted from the back door the moment he heard the Entry Team breach the building, only to encounter waiting law enforcement.

Forensic technicians found ammunition in the bedroom where Pemberton had been staying. The seizure included a chrome magazine holding 13 rounds of 9mm ammunition, a commercial box of 9mm rounds, and a plastic bag containing loose.38 Special rounds. A check by VIPD Firearms Custodian Matthew Cundiff showed Pemberton has no license to carry firearms or possess ammunition in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Pemberton was brought to the Wilbur H. Francis Command Police Station in Mars Hill, Frederiksted, where he was processed and read his Miranda rights. He chose not to make a statement about the ammunition. Bail was set at $5,500 under the standard bail schedule. Unable to pay, he was held at the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility in Golden Grove.

He appeared before Superior Court Judge Yolan Brow Ross on Wednesday morning for an Advice of Rights hearing. Court records show he faces multiple related felony counts on a companion case filed the same day. The Office of the Territorial Public Defender is representing him.

Pemberton has prior weapons convictions. In April 2021, Superior Court Judge Harold W.L. Willocks sentenced him to 10 years with five years suspended after he pleaded guilty to unauthorized possession of a firearm, stemming from a 2018 arrest. Notably, the attorney who defended him in that 2018 case, Yolan Brow Ross, now presides over his current charges from the bench.