Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

$100k bail for USVI man who attempted to burn victims in building

$100k bail for USVI man who attempted to burn victims in building

A man appeared before a USVI Superior Court on Friday to face multiple charges including attempted murder, after he set fire to a building and trapped others inside, according to police.
Luis M. Felix Santos was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted murder, first-degree arson and first-degree assault.

His arrest follows a report of arson at Orange Grove in Christiansted on December 14, where responding officers met with law enforcement already on the scene and firefighters who had already extinguished the blaze.

According to court documents, one of the officers on the scene reported that Luis Felix Santo was in custody after he told police that he was cooking inside the building and that’s what started the fire. Police made contact with two victims who said that they were trapped inside of their rooms when the fire began.

According to the probable cause fact sheet, when the first set of officers arrived on the scene, they found three ongoing fires: one near the eastern wall about 5 to 6 feet high and spreading throughout the building. The second and third fires were on the northern wall near the two victims’ bedroom. Officer said it was difficult for them to breathe while standing outside the building due to heavy smoke inside. Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire within five minutes.

One of the victims told police that he was on the second floor in his bedroom when he heard someone kicking the front door. He said that a fire was then started on the northern wall of his bedroom and he heard someone shouting, “I’m going to kill you today,” using expletives. He told police that he recognized the voice as that of Felix Santos, a man who lived downstairs. He said since he started living in the building, Felix Santos had been harassing and assaulting him. The victim told police that there was no one else in the building at the time of the fire besides himself, his roommate and Felix Santos. Due to the heavy smoke, the victim said he was unable to see anything, however his roommate was able to squeeze through an opening at the back of the room to escape — cutting his right thigh and left ankle in the process, according to court documents.

Police observed damages as a result of the fire, according to court documents. There were piles of plastic bottles and paper being used as burning material on the eastern wall. The northern wall had a smoke stain about 9 to 12 feet high which appeared to be climbing up the wall. The bottom of that stain appeared to be extremely charred. While the fire inspector did not test for accelerants, he did state that the fires were ignited by burning trash and plastic bottles.

Felix Santos was then arrested.

In court on Friday, a judge ruled that Felix Santos’s bail of $100,000 must be fully secured in order for him to be released. If he is able to post the required amount, he would then need a vetted and approved third-party custodian and a suitable address.

If released, Felix Santos will be barred from leaving St. Croix without the court’s written permission and must surrender his passport if he has one. He will be placed on 24-hour house arrest and must report to the Office of Probation every Tuesday. He was further barred from entering the premises where the incident took place, and he was ordered to maintain a minimum distance of 1000 ft away from the victims.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×