Spencer Wayne Allen, 26, set fire to three U.S. government facilities in a single night of destruction on St. Thomas, shattering federal operations and igniting a multi-agency manhunt that ended in a guilty plea. The fires, deliberately set on February 28, 2017, targeted critical federal infrastructure, including military, judicial, and law enforcement installations.
Allen admitted in U.S. District Court today to one count of arson and two counts of malicious damage and destruction to federal property. The first blaze consumed the U.S. Navy and Marine Recruitment Center in the Nisky Shopping Center, reducing the facility to rubble. Investigators confirmed the center was completely destroyed, with no possibility of salvage.
But Allen didn’t stop there. On the same night, he ignited fires at the Ron De Lugo Federal Building and United States Courthouse, a sprawling complex housing federal administrative and judicial offices, and at the U.S. Coast Guard Station, a key maritime security outpost. Both sites sustained significant damage, disrupting federal operations across the territory.
The coordinated nature of the attacks raised immediate red flags. Federal investigators from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations led the probe. They were aided by local forces: the Virgin Islands Police Department, Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, Virgin Islands Port Authority, Virgin Islands Fire Service, and even the Virginia Beach Fire Department’s fire investigation unit, brought in for specialized forensic analysis.
Allen now faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison and up to 20 years on the arson charge alone. Each count of destruction of federal property carries a maximum of 10 years behind bars. Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, 2018, in District Court.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Meredith J. Edwards and Everard E. Potter. U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert confirmed the plea and vowed federal accountability: ‘Attacks on federal property are attacks on the American people,’ she said. ‘This case sends a clear message: we will pursue those who target our institutions with the full weight of the law.’
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Key Facts
- State: Virgin Islands
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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