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Alcohol implicated in two recent domestic violence cases

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Two men arrested and charged for disturbing the peace inside their homes by assaulting their wives and making unreasonable noise told investigators that the alleged domestic violence occurred after they consumed alcohol with their friends.

The first case occurred in Nuuuli while the other case was in Petesa.

The two men in their early 50s made their initial appearances in District Court last week where they were later released on their own recognizance under several conditions.

Among the conditions is the pair was ordered not to consume any more alcohol, keep the peace at their homes and find another place to stay while their cases are still pending in court. They are also not to make any direct or indirect contact with their wives and if they see them in public, they must walk away from them peacefully.

Both men are charged with 3rd degree assault and public peace disturbance; both misdemeanors.

The cases against the two men are now transferred to the FDA court (Family, Drugs & Alcohol) and their next court appearance is Sept. 14th.

CASE IN NU’UULI

On Aug. 14th, 2020 around 10:21p.m, a woman contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) requesting police assistance after she was allegedly assaulted by her husband. Several police officers responded and discovered a woman sitting at a bus stop crying. The woman was later identified as the victim.

The victim told investigators that her husband assaulted her after she approached him regarding his paycheck, while he was intoxicated. He had used most of his paycheck to drink with a friend and when she confronted him he became angry.

The verbal argument escalated between the couple until it reached a point where the husband was unable to control his anger and assaulted his wife by pulling her hair and slapping her in the face. The defendant then went inside and started damaging items in the living room and throwing clothes outside of the house and demanding his wife give him his portion of the stimulus check.

As the defendant was destroying things inside the house, the victim stood up and ran outside of the house. She immediately called police for assistance.

After speaking with the victim, investigators went to the back of the house and discovered the defendant sitting on a big rock drinking a large bottle of beer. When asked if he had assaulted his wife, the defendant immediately started crying and knelt on the ground asking investigators to forgive him.

Investigators apprehended the defendant and transported him to the TPS for further investigation. When asked about the incident, he admitted that he assaulted his wife out of anger after his wife questioned him about his paycheck.

According to the defendant, he is the head of the family and his wife shouldn’t question him on how he spends their money because he’s working hard to provide for his family and he also needs to spend time with his friends.

CASE IN PETESA

On Aug. 15th around 9p.m, the TPS received a phone call from a female saying that her uncle was walking around the house with a machete in his hand and their family needed police assistance. The caller further told police that her uncle had just finished assaulting his wife.

Several police officers responded to the call and observed a man walking on the side of the road with a machete in his hand. Police surrounded the man and instructed him to put down the machete. The man complied before surrendering to police.

Officers then went to the house and met up with a young female who was later identified as the person who had called police. She told police that her uncle was very intoxicated and assaulted his wife. She further stated to police that her uncle (defendant) was very upset when his wife told him not to waste their money on alcohol.

Police questioned the victim and she echoed the statement. Her husband was very upset when she approached him about the money. He yelled profanities at her before he pushed her to the ground and kicked her in her back.

When asked about the alleged incident, the defendant immediately broke down into tears and admitted to assaulting his wife. He told police that he used part of the money to buy beer for himself and his carpenter.