Donna

It might be a good idea to use extra caution if traveling to St. Thomas due to the rash of armed robberies in Charlotte Amalie this month. Police are urging residents to travel in groups and leave their cash at home due to a rash of robberies involving groups of armed robbers approaching people in the downtown since the beginning of April. Some of the victims were beaten in additioon to being robbed, including a 60 year old women who was pistol whipped. Read about it here:<BR><BR>http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?v=d&i=&s=News%3ALocal&p=50010<BR><BR>

islander

Thanks for posting the warning. As it is Carnival, the article points out that often the opportunity for theft increases. Most of the robberies occurred between 10pm and 3am and all victims were walking alone in Charlotte Amalie. The article reminds travelers not to resist a robbery like the woman who was hit with a gun butt since it could easily escalate into something far more serious than loosing some cash and jewelry no matter where you travel.

anon

Gee you mean crime is everywhere, sorry but this is not really news.<BR><BR>Don't know why you are trashing St. Thomas, it is a wonderful destination and I hope people will not be swayed by your postings. Seems this same post pops up all the time. Same poster????<BR><BR>This kind of thing happens daily all over the US in most cities and even in some smaller towns. Being aware is the answer.

clt

We recently visited St. Thomas and didn't feel unsafe. But in 8 days we only spent about three hours in Charlotte Amalie (one afternoon from noon to 3 pm) and there were 3 people in our group.<BR><BR>For late-night bar-hoppers (which we're not), this is probably not the safest destination.<BR>

xxx

Sure, crime happens everywhere. No shit Sherlock! But it's a little different when you're somewhere new and you stick out like a sore thumb. People can become very vulnerable in a new land. I know where to go and where not to go in my home area. That's not always the case when you're in unfamiliar surroundings. They are two different things. GET IT? <BR><BR>I'm so sick of hearing the "crime is everywhere" whiners on this board. It should be "whiners are everywhere." If there's crime, I'd rather know about it. If you don't like it, don't read it. Don't take any advice either. Someday you may become a statistic.

anon

Yup, guess a woman (or man either) walking the streets in the wee hours of the morn in Charlotte Amalie or any town alone might just happen to stick out a bit! Talk about opportunity!

Barb

Donna, thanks for posting that information. I was amazed to read the article on the onepaper.com site that said the murder rate in St. Thomas last year was 7 times higher than here in the US. And another article said the rate is even higher this year and some officials are asking for the national guard to step in. Who would have guessed!

xxx

Oh gosh! Guess I will rethink my vacation now! Let's see...how bout Detroit...Chicago...NYC...Miami? And oh yea..I am a single woman. Does anyone think I could walk alone in these cities at 2AM?

CShell

It's incredible to hear someone comparing Detroit with St. Thomas. Crime must have really gotten bad for people to be making comparisons like that! Hopefully they will call in the national guard to straighten things out before their murder rate skyrockets any further. It's a shame to see a once lovely island branded as one of the most crime infested in the Caribbean.<BR>

Karen

Please be adviced that the post is NOT authored by CShelll019 or KarenW531 but by some unknown imposter who chooses to use my screen names to dispariage not only the USVI, the residents but also me. <BR>I do NOT choose to post here other than when someone stauks, steals and posts false information or fake posts with my name. <BR>If you want accurate information, you would be better served to join the folks at www.usvi-on-line.com <BR>Happy Travels

Donna

I don't see anything fake about those links to the St. Thomas Source. Those are plain facts reported by the St. Thomas Source, not opinions or rants by this "Karen" character who obviously has some strange issues. Not sure why anyone would want to prevent people from seeing current crime statistics and police warnings for places they are about to visit. The usvi-on-line board also mentions these warnings, and no one there has gone ballistic trying to suppress that info.<BR><BR>Bottom line: Not a bad idea to research the current crime situation for anywhere you travel. As you see from the article above, the police themselves are warning you to be cautious since 10 armed robberies occurred just this month. You can decide for yourself what is more believable, an article in the respected St. Thomas Source, or some ranting poster with multiple names who comes across as very unstable.

Fred

Donna, did I misread Karen's post? Seems she was saying that someone was pretending to be her in the responce previous to hers. What's your beef with her? Can't you just post travel related topics like you did before, or are you trying to start something intentionally?

Karen

No one is ranting, raving nor denying any information. However, I did not post nor do I have make comments on this board other when someone else chooses to post using my sceen name. Since I and others have been maliciously maligned in the past with the misue of screen names, I want to make it clear that at NO TIME will my screen names' KarenW531 or even KarenW351 (cute try tho!) nor CShell1019 be legitimate posts by me. Yes, I have an issue with someone who purposefully uses my screen name no matter the topic and the factual or fictious information posted. I have no public comment on this subject for this board. If it is CShell or KarenW or combinations it is not a "legitimate" post but an imposter as I will post nothing but a disclaimer when I am hijacked. <BR>Now do you get it? Thank you

CShell

Please ignore this Fred/Karen/Whoever person who is making a false claim that they own my username which I have used for over five years on many forums. I realize anyone can use this name on forums like this that don't require registration, just like there can be many Johns or xxx. But please quit playing this game and sabotaging my posts. Lets keep the focus on the travel issues, like crime that could effect us as tourists. Especially the out of control crime rate in St. Thomas as reported here<BR><BR>http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?v=d&i=&s=News%3ALocal&p=46435<BR><BR>which verifies that the homicide rate in St. Thomas is 7 times the national average. By the way, thanks to the folks at usvi-on-line for posting these links to the St. Thomas Source so we can sort fact from fiction. This counters 100s of posts by this Karen person who is on many boards using many names saying crime was a "myth" or just some disgruntled tourist. If we can save one person by making them more cautious about travel to these crime infested areas, then we have beaten those who care more about money than our safety.

STOP

I have never under KarenW nor under the one board where I registered as CShell, said crime anywhere was a myth. You don't have the guts to post in your own name so you hide behind others to mislead/slander. Whatever your sick agenda is go after the webmasters who without any notice from me have banned you or deleted your posts as you misreprest them as from me. That's your problem, not mine. Go back to your hidey hole, crawl back under your rock as you did on AOL and leave me alone! Your posts are easily recognizable with the multiple screen names you use the the continuous wrong information that you post only makes Fodor's a worthless site for accurate information and everything suspect! It's a shame.

CShell

Karen, you are a very disturbed individual. I have never been banned from any website, and I post useful information on many boards. This board, especially the Europe section, has more informative links than any other board I have found. For you to bash Fodors as a worthless site is a laugh, you are just a flaming troll trying to confuse everyone with your "victim" game. If you have nothing to contribute, like some useful links to REAL facts, then please slink away to the other boards that you claim are so much better. Please spare us any of more of bizarre and chldish games and lies.

Sue

I agree this Karen is nuts- especially bashing Fodors over and over. She's also on other boards like frommers and traveltalk making all kinds of bizzare claims. All Donna did was post a link which I found informative... Karen, quit trashing this board!

Jeremy

What's the big deal? Everybody knows that St Thomas, like St Martin, has a crime problem. The "powers-that-be" must cover it up to protect tourism, but occasionally, just occasionally, the truth comes out. Personally I think St Maaarten is worse, and I've been both places in the past 14 months, but both have their issues. If you worry about it or don't want to deal with the possibility, go somewhere else. There are plenty of great islands it the Carib sea. <BR>

Donna

Bad news <BR><BR>Another murder was reported in St. Thomas today. This time a body was dug up from a shallow grave:<BR><BR>http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?...ALocal&p=50110