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Subscribe to RSSInvestigators on the Caribbean island of Nevis are on the hunt for the machete-armed man who robbed Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at his vacation home. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, his wife and several family friends were robbed by a person with a knife at the Breyer vacation home on the Caribbean island of Nevis, the court confirmed to NBC News on Monday.
The local St Kitts Nevis Observer newspaper described the attacker as wielding a machete.
About 9 p.m. ET last Thursday night, Justice Breyer, his wife and houseguests were robbed by one person, wearing a mask and wielding a knife, a court official said. The robber made off with about $1,000 in cash.
No one was hurt in the incident.
Previously filed financial disclosure forms as well as articles and tourist websites acknowledge that Justice Breyer is a regular vacationer to the island and has owned a home there for quite some time.
The Nevis police department is investigating and says there are no suspects or arrests at this time.
Local news reports as well as the police acknowledge other robberies and break-ins in the area around the same time.
It’s the third time in recent years that a Supreme Court justice has been a crime victim.
Back in 2004, Justice David Souter suffered minor injuries when he was mugged by a group of young men while jogging.
And in 1996, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had her purse snatched near the Kennedy Center while walking with her husband and daughter. She was not hurt in the incident.
Several of the tropical islands have some of the highest reported murder rates in the world, creating a danger for the millions of U.S. tourists who flock to the area each year. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.
Crime in the Carribbean, and partcularly on Nevis, has climbed dramatically in recent years, according to the United Nations.
Over the past year, Americans living on Nevis say they've had enough of the frequent home invasions.
One American expatriate, who no longer wants to be named because he says he's been harassed by local officials, started his own crime-reporting service for people on the island, because residents claim police are inadequate.
Last year citizens met with police, and staged a rally, to try to call attention to the crime problem.
People are furious, according to NBC News. Some Americans who own properties on the island no longer want to retire there because of the crime -- and they say the crime rate has lowered their property values.
Mike Kosnar, Michelle Kosinski and Pete Williams contributed to this report.
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