April 11, 2006 — A police officer was charged with breaking into an ex-girlfriend's home and holding her prisoner while threatening her and a child with a hammer early Tuesday, police said.
Winston S. Marcus, a six-year veteran of the V.I. Police Department on St. Croix, was charged with false imprisonment, burglary and assault, said Police Spokesman Sgt. Thomas Hannah.
Marcus, assigned to the department headquarters' communications bureau, allegedly broke into the woman's home shortly before dawn Tuesday and threatened to beat her, Hannah said. He also allegedly pushed and threatened the woman's family, including a child under 10 years old.
Hannah said the woman was not injured, and someone inside the home called police.
Judge Maria Cabret remanded Marcus to the Golden Grove Correctional Facility, where he was unable to post the $200,000 bail set after an advice of rights hearing Tuesday.
If convicted, Marcus faces more than 25 years in prison. Police Commissioner Elton Lewis said the department has "zero tolerance" for domestic violence.
The arrest is the second high-profile domestic violence incident involving a police officer this year.
VIPD Detective Joel Dowdye turned himself in to police March 25 after the eight-year veteran allegedly gunned down an ex-girlfriend in the hotel room she shared with another man.
The woman, 22-year-old Sharett James, was dead when police arrived. The man, St. Croix DJ and television host Daren Stevens, was recently released from the hospital after emergency surgery for bullet wounds in his back and stomach.
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