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Uncle charged for allegedly hitting his niece with a shovel

American Samoa District Court building
blue@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who allegedly hit his niece with a shovel on New Year's Day has been arrested and charged with second degree assault.

Voi Sautia made his initial appearance in District Court yesterday morning. His bail is set at $5,000

The charges stem from an incident that occurred New Year's Day, when Sautia and two of his buddies were drinking in front of a house.

According to the criminal complaint, when it started raining, Sautia and his friends made their way into the home. At that point, his niece and her aunt — who is off island and owns the home — were talking to each other over the phone.

The aunt allegedly heard noises in the background during the conversation with her niece. The aunt is alleged to have told her niece to tell Sautia to get out of the house. When the niece delivered the message, Sautia became enraged.

He allegedly grabbed a flat tipped shovel and struck the victim on the back, while she was not looking. The girl turned around in time to put her elbow up to shield herself from the second strike, which caused injuries to her arm.

Sautia's third swing missed the victim who dashed out of the house and sought refuge at the neighbor's home, from where she contacted police for assistance.

When cops arrived at the scene, they heard the victim's side of the story and EMS personnel were contacted to render medical assistance. Sautia was nowhere to be found.

Police were able to apprehend him the next day.

Sautia remains in custody at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF).