WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and his wife Joanna were robbed last week
at their vacation home on the Caribbean island of Nevis by a
man armed with a machete, a court spokeswoman said on Monday.
Spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the robbery took place on the
evening of Feb. 9, the intruder stole about $1,000, but no one
had been hurt. Two unidentified guests also were present.
The robbery was reported to local authorities but Arberg
said she did not know if there had been any arrests and added
that she had no details about the investigation. She said the
73-year-old Breyer and his wife were no longer in Nevis.
The U.S. high court has been on a four-week break in the
middle of its current term during which it is scheduled to hear
landmark cases involving healthcare and immigration.
A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said the agency
does not discuss the particulars of its judicial security
operations, including those involving Supreme Court justices.
"What I can confirm is that the Marshals Service is aware of
the incident involving Justice Breyer on the Caribbean island of
Nevis and is assisting the Supreme Court Police and local law
enforcement authorities with the investigation as needed,"
spokesman Jeff Carter said.
Nevis is part of a federation with the nearby island of
Saint Kitts.
It was not the first time that a crime has been committed
against a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2004, then-Supreme Court Justice David Souter suffered
minor injuries when he was mugged by a group of young men as he
jogged alone near his residence in Washington.
In 1996, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the victim of a
purse snatching as she walked home with her husband and daughter
from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to their
nearby residence in their Watergate apartment complex. No one
was hurt.
(Reporting by James Vicini)
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