COST-U-LESS CHAOS: St. Thomas Man Arrested in Dog Food Aisle After Allegedly Assaulting Nephew Twice—Then Buying a Rotisserie Chicken
By JOHN McCARTHY / St. Croix Sun News Reporter
ST. THOMAS — A routine family shopping trip descended into public violence and a double-assault arrest Thursday morning after an uncle and his nephew engaged in a chaotic, multi-round physical altercation inside the Cost-U-Less wholesale store, according to sworn court documents obtained by the St. Croix Sun News.
Shane Fredericks, a resident of St. Thomas with a prior criminal history on file, was arrested and booked into the Richard N. Callwood Command following the incident. Fredericks has been charged with Simple Assault (Domestic Violence) and Disturbance of the Peace.
According to a probable cause fact sheet filed by VIPD Officer Michael Hilaire Sr., the emergency call came in at approximately 11:03 AM on Thursday, June 4. Responding officers arrived at the retail establishment to find a fractured family dispute that had spilled across the store's pet food aisle.
The encounter began while Dionte Hyndman was shopping alongside his grandmother. As Hyndman reached to pick up a bag of puppy food, an argument ignited between him and his uncle, Fredericks. Fredericks reportedly became enraged by comments Hyndman made toward the grandmother, while Hyndman maintained that his uncle was acting aggressively and disrespectfully toward him.
The verbal sparring rapidly escalated into violence. According to sworn eyewitness accounts, Fredericks unexpectedly rushed at his nephew, getting directly up into his face and chest. Although Hyndman threw his hands up across his chest in a defensive posture, Fredericks allegedly grabbed the front of Hyndman’s shirt and began pulling him violently, sparking a physical struggle that sent both men crashing to the floor. A store security guard and an employee managed to intervene and separate the two relatives.
However, the peace was short-lived. An independent civilian witness who observed the entire event stated that while both men were standing apart post-separation, Fredericks rushed his nephew a second time. During this second assault, Fredericks allegedly grabbed Hyndman around the front of his neck, initiating another physical struggle before store security could once again pull them apart and dial 911.
In a bizarre postscript to the public brawl, the independent witness noted that immediately after being separated for the second time, Fredericks rushed to the back of the store, grabbed a hot rotisserie chicken, paid for it at the register, and walked out to wait in his aunt’s vehicle.
Officer Hilaire Sr. observed that the front of Hyndman’s shirt had been violently torn in several places, and the nephew had sustained a visible abrasion to his left elbow. Det. Telemaque-Prince from the VIPD Forensic Unit was dispatched to the retail scene to photograph the injuries and document the aftermath. Fredericks, who was found with minor bleeding under his right ring fingernail, was subsequently detained in the rear of a police cruiser, read his constitutional rights, and taken into custody.
Fredericks was turned over to the Bureau of Corrections pending his formal Advice of Rights hearing scheduled for today, Friday, June 5, 2026, at 9:00 AM.
