A beloved St. Croix institution since 1900, Armstrong’s Homemade Ice Cream was burglarized sometime early Saturday, according to the V.I. Police Department.
Police responded to the popular ice cream shop in Frederiksted after the 911 Emergency Call Center was alerted to an alarm sounding at the business at 4:25 a.m. The officers discovered that the side serving window had been shattered along with the iron bars, and the inside ransacked, according to the VIPD report. A hammer, a rusted metal bar, and a chisel were found near the side serving mirror, police said.
The VIPD continues to search for suspects and will review security camera footage from nearby businesses, according to the report. Owner Cedric Armstrong told the officers that a power outage had knocked his cameras offline and he hadn’t been able to reset them.
Armstrong estimates that about $240 was in the cash register that was recovered, minus the money, in some nearby bushes, police said.
The scene was dusted for fingerprints and the investigation is awaiting the results, the police report said.
Armstrong’s grandmother, Minerva Petersen, started the business 114 years ago, selling vanilla ice cream from a wooden cart that she pulled around Frederiksted. He has continued the tradition, making and selling the creamy treat from his parlor in Estate Whim in a variety of flavors, including the uniquely Caribbean guava, soursop, mango and passion fruit.
