🚨 DOCKET EXCLUSIVE: ‘Buck’ Facing Prior-Felon Enhancements After Firing Shot at Four Individuals in Market Street Armed Robbery
ALLEGED REPEAT OFFENDER: A booking photograph of Roman "Buck" Sanchez, 40, who was arrested by the Virgin Islands Police Department on May 28, 2026, following a coordinated tactical operation on St. Croix. Sanchez faces seven felony counts—including first-degree robbery as a second offense and carrying a firearm as a convicted felon—after allegedly firing a shot during a midnight gunpoint ambush of four individuals on Market Street in Christiansted on April 11. He has entered a initial plea of not guilty and remains held at the John Bell Correctional Facility on a $100,000 cash bail. (VIPD Mugshot)
By JOHN McCARTHY / St. Croix Sun Staff Writer
CHRISTIANSTED — Court records obtained from the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands have revealed chilling new details—and a significant criminal history—surrounding the April 11 midnight armed robbery on Market Street.
While the Virgin Islands Police Department initially released only a bare-bones summary of the arrest of 40-year-old Roman "Buck" Sanchez, the official charging documents paint the picture of a brazen, violent ambush by a repeat offender.
‘Surrender Your Money or Die’
According to the Information filed by Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea and Criminal Division Chief William A. Appleton, Jr., the incident unfolded in the immediate vicinity of #2159 Market Street in Christiansted.
The dockets reveal that four local residents were cornered at gunpoint. Prosecutors allege that Sanchez pointed a firearm at the group and explicitly threatened to murder them if they failed to hand over their cash.
To show he wasn't bluffing, Sanchez allegedly fired a live round in "close proximity" to the four individuals, demonstrating what prosecutors term a "depraved indifference to human life" that placed the group in grave danger of death.
The Hidden Backstory: A Repeat Offender
While the public was led to believe this was a standard robbery arrest, the Judiciary's C-Track Public Portal—referenced in Screenshot 2026-06-01 2.51.06 PM.png—exposes a much heavier legal hammer falling on Sanchez.
Count 2 of the Information has been formally lodged as Carrying or Using a Dangerous Weapon by a Convicted Felon, proving Sanchez was already legally barred from possessing a firearm. Furthermore, Count 7 reveals that his First-Degree Robbery charge is being prosecuted as a Second Offense, which carries drastically stiffer mandatory sentencing guidelines if convicted.
Sanchez has already entered initial pleas of Not Guilty to all seven felony counts, which include first-degree robbery, felony assault, reckless endangerment, and carrying an unlicensed firearm.
The defense will have to work overtime to untangle this case, because when it comes to tracking down repeat offenders on St. Croix, the Department of Justice is moving with the kind of speed Elon Musk usually reserves for rocket launches. Sanchez remains held at the John Bell Correctional Facility on a $100,000.00 cash bail.
