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Juveniles arrested and charged after store burglary

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Two juveniles were arrested last week and charged with burglary. The two were co-defendants in the case between the government and Wilson Vilivili, who was arrested by police last week and charged with 4 counts — including two counts of stealing and two counts of 2nd degree burglary, all class C felonies.

The case against the 2 juveniles has now been transferred to the Juvenile Court while Vilivili’s case is scheduled for a preliminary examination this Friday.

According to the government, the case was reported by two eyewitnesses to the Tafuna Police Substation after they passed by in front of an Asian store in Tafuna on Sunday night, May 13, 2018 around 1:32 a.m, and saw three young men standing in front of the store. One of them was holding a beer bottle in his hand.

Police arrived at the scene but all three young men who were in front of the store fled the scene. Early Monday morning, May 14, the owner of the store called police for assistance, saying someone had been inside his store the previous night and stole several items including cash.

During police investigation into this matter, footage from the store surveillance camera was reviewed by police who spotted an adult man in the footage. The adult man was later identified as Vilivili, who is the defendant in this matter.

Vilivili told police that it was him and two juveniles who burglarized the store and stole several items including beer, canned food, cigarettes and $451 in cash. The defendant further told police that they split everything they stole from the store including cash.

One of the juveniles who was arrested by police last week is on 24 months probation from the District Court for underage drinking and trespass.

Vilivili is still in custody unable to post a $15,000 surety bond.