Police taser man believed to be on 'bath salts'

ST. CROIX - A 33-year-old man who police believe was under the influence of a synthetic street drug known as "bath salts", remains in police custody after attacking police offers with a metal pipe Monday afternoon.

Graham Moore of Estate St. John was advised of his rights by Magistrate Judge Miguel Camacho on Tuesday morning and charged with third-degree assault, possession of a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence and destruction of property.

The charges stem from an incident just before 3 p.m. Monday in which police were called to an apartment complex in Estate St. John to respond to a disturbance.

When police arrived at the scene, they met with a man who reported that Moore had been destroying things in the apartment and threatening one of the other tenants, according to a probable cause fact sheet prepared by V.I. Police officer Stephanie Krigger-Thomas.

The man told police that the neighbors heard the ruckus, and when they went to see what was going on, they realized that Moore was on a rampage inside the apartment. Moore then came out and threatened the neighbors, according to Krigger-Thomas' affidavit.

Krigger-Thomas said that when police drove up to the apartment, Moore was outside and had a black metal pipe in his hand that he was swinging as he advanced toward the officers. He was screaming and shouting at them in a language unknown to any of the officers, according to the report.

Police said that as Moore advanced, they ordered him to stop and put the pipe down on at least two occasions, but he continued to walk toward them, so they used a taser on him. The officers said the taser had no affect on Moore, and he continued coming down the walkway toward the police waving the pipe and cursing, according to the affidavit.

Moore then turned to run back into the apartment and fell, and police were able to grab him and tried to subdue him, according to the court documents.

As officers struggled to subdue Moore and get him under control, they fought with him and officers used the taser on him a second and third time, Krigger-Thomas wrote. After the third use of the taser, Moore complied with the officers' orders to relax and put his hands behind his back so that he could be taken into custody, according to the affidavit.

Officers said that after Moore was taken into custody they found that he had broken six louvres, damaged a lamp, broken a table, broken a kitchen cabinet and made a hole in one of the walls.

Because of Moore's extremely aggressive nature and his overall demeanor, officers said they took Moore to Luis Hospital to undergo a psychiatric assessment. A combination of the assessment and interviews with others that know Moore, indicated that Moore had been delirious from the use of "bath salts," a street drug that is a synthetic stimulant. In addition to drugs, Moore also was under the influence of alcohol.

The legal blood-alcohol count limit is .08, Krigger-Thomas said Moore had a blood alcohol content of .293 and a blood substance content of .305 when he was tested in the emergency room.

Camacho set bail at $25,000 and said he would require that Moore post at least 10 percent of the bail and secure a third-party custodian before he would sign Moore's release motion.

- Contact Fiona Stokes at 714-9149 or email fstokes@dailynews.vi.

Sign up for Text Alerts

Sign up for e-mail newsletters