Crime/Police
From Pitcher to Prisoner: Robbie Smalls Warns BVI Youth One Wrong Choice Can End a Future
Former professional baseball player Roberto “Robbie” Smalls delivered a powerful warning to young people at the Virgin Islands Anti-Crime Summit 2025, telling them that one bad decision can erase years of promise and talent.
Smalls — who once pitched five consecutive no-hitters and signed a professional baseball contract before being sentenced to natural life in prison — spoke on 24 September about how quickly success can unravel when young people fall into crime.
“I played baseball real great,” Smalls said. “But when I made that transition and let the streets engulf me, instead of baseball trophies, the street represented me with gunshot and stab wounds. The first time that I ever did time was natural life.”
Smalls said his path to prison was not obvious early on. “I was shy, quiet, reserved,” he recalled. “But once I got to a certain age, got off that porch and started to follow bad company, I got a taste of the streets just like everybody else before me. If I had that support entity behind me, maybe my outcome would have been a little different.”
He described prison as more than punishment. “Prison is the biggest inconvenience in your life,” Smalls said. “It’s the biggest disrespect you could do to your family — your mother, your father, all the sacrifices they made on your behalf — and how do you repay them? By going astray, ending up in prison or worse, death.”
Smalls told the audience that when he went to trial in 1994, the friends who had influenced him disappeared. “Only my mum and my two sisters stayed with me through that 25-year journey,” he said. “For the kids out here following bad company, don’t think it will be different for you. It will happen to you — maybe even worse.”
He urged young people to help keep their peers out of trouble. “You might not be the one who needs the message, but you could be the facilitator of the message,” he said. “Tell them: ‘I don’t want to see you go to prison or, even worse, die.’”
Smalls praised the summit’s decision to bring together students, teachers, community leaders and elected officials, saying he hopes his story of remorse, reflection and redemption will reach those most at risk. “Now I’m the poster child of who not to be when you find yourself at that crossroad at a tender age,” he said. “If you can just be patient and resist that first temptation, time will work itself out and you can be a successful individual.”
Police are urgently searching for the driver involved in a dramatic hit-and-run collision that left a female pedestrian injured after she was struck and flung into the air along the Dual Carriage Highway Thursday night.
According to the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), the incident occurred shortly after 8:00 p.m. on February 19, 2026, in the vicinity of Delta Gas Station in Pasea Estate.
Preliminary reports indicate that the woman was crossing the eastbound lane of the roadway when she was struck by a vehicle traveling west to east. Although the driver reportedly attempted to brake, the vehicle was unable to avoid impact. The force of the collision sent the pedestrian airborne before she crashed onto the roadway.
In a troubling development, the vehicle did not stop. Instead, the driver fled the scene immediately after the collision, leaving the injured woman lying on the highway.
Emergency Medical Services responded swiftly and transported the victim to Dr. Orlando Smith Hospital for treatment. Her condition remains unknown at this time.
The RVIPF has launched an active investigation into the hit-and-run and is appealing to members of the public who may have witnessed the incident or have information that could help identify the vehicle or driver involved.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the RVIPF Intelligence Unit at 368-9339 or provide anonymous tips through Crime Stoppers at 800-8477 (TIPS).
Police say further updates will be provided as the investigation continues.
The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, working alongside other law enforcement partners, intercepted a vessel and recovered a quantity of illegal narcotics during a joint operation last night, December 8, police said.
In a brief statement, the RVIPF confirmed that the operation resulted in the seizure of the drugs but did not disclose the type or quantity recovered. Authorities said the investigation remains ongoing and described it as dynamic, noting that additional information will be released as it becomes available.
Premier Hon. Dr. Natalio D. Wheatley criticised Governor Daniel Pruce’s appointment of Richard Ulger as interim acting police commissioner, saying the decision sidestepped the established process and failed to respect the advice of the Police Service Commission.
Speaking during a press conference on Friday, Nov. 21, Wheatley said the Police Service Commission had already submitted a recommendation for a substantive Police Commissioner and that this recommendation is expected to come before the National Security Council soon. The Governor’s decision, he argued, pre-empted that process and created unnecessary tension around a critical public-security appointment.
“In my view, it would have been better to conclude that process before appointing an interim acting commissioner,” Wheatley said. “The Police Service Commission has made a recommendation, and that recommendation should have been allowed to proceed.”
The Premier also noted that Acting Commissioner Jacqueline Vanterpool was returned to her substantive post of Deputy Commissioner after serving as Commissioner for one year. While acknowledging that Governor Pruce acted within his constitutional authority, Wheatley expressed concern about how the authority was used.
“Though the Governor is within his constitutional rights, I am concerned that the way his discretion has been exercised is not in keeping with the modern partnership that the United Kingdom has committed to,” he said. “The process has been poorly handled and does not reflect transparency, good governance, or sensitivity to the legitimate concerns of the people of the Virgin Islands.”
The decision follows a week of public demonstrations, during which residents peacefully protested what they viewed as political overreach. Wheatley said he and his colleagues in the House of Assembly supported the public’s right to assemble. “Persons exercised their democratic right to assemble and peacefully protest,” he said. “We respected and supported that right.”
Wheatley said he raised his concerns directly with Steven Doughty, the United Kingdom Minister for the Overseas Territories, during a call on Wednesday. He added that he has also been in ongoing dialogue with Governor Bruce through Cabinet and the National Security Council.
The Premier linked the controversy to a broader constitutional conversation in the Territory. “The handling of this matter underscores the importance of negotiating a constitution that provides greater democratic accountability to the people of the Virgin Islands,” he said. “This includes devolving more responsibility to the elected government, including responsibility for internal security.”
Wheatley is scheduled to depart the Territory on Friday for the Joint Ministerial Council meetings in London, which he will co-chair in his capacity as President of the Political Council of UK Overseas Territories. The JMC, hosted by Minister Doughty at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, is the highest-level annual forum for dialogue between Overseas Territory leaders and His Majesty’s Government.
This year’s meeting, he said, “forms part of a broader reset in the relationship between the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories.” The UK Government is expected to introduce a proposed Charter on Engagement, outlining new principles for transparency, communication, and collaboration. Leaders will also discuss bilateral compacts, long-term frameworks designed to strengthen planning and clarify shared priorities between the UK and participating territories.
Throughout the week, Overseas Territory leaders are scheduled to take part in plenary sessions, technical workshops, and political engagements covering security, development, governance, and economic planning. As Chair of the UK Overseas Territories Association, the Virgin Islands will play a central role in shaping collective positions.
Wheatley said he intends to continue voicing the concerns of Virgin Islanders at every level of discussion. “I will continue to engage in respectful dialogue with the Minister for the Overseas Territories and the Governor as we remain steadfast in defense of the security of the people of the Virgin Islands and their democratic rights,” he said.
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