Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On May 10, 2024, a driver who was involved in a motor vehicle accident contacted the Fagatogo Police Station to report the accident involving an elderly couple and another driver.

The suspect was later arrested and charged with following charges:

Count 1: Driving While Under the Influence Alcohol Causing Bodily Injury, a class D felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of $5,000, or both fine and imprisonment;

Count 2: Careless Driving, a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both; and,

Count 3: Non-Possession of a Driver’s License, a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both.

According to the affidavit, on May 10, at approximately 5:17 a.m, FPS received a call to report a motor vehicle accident in the village of Pago Pago.

The officers responded to the scene and upon arrival, they observed two passengers inside the reporter’s vehicle were elderly folk. According to one of the officers, he observed the front male passenger seemed to be in shock and had abrasions to his left cheek and left elbow. The other passenger behind the male passenger was his wife, who was awake, but had no visible injuries.

Both passengers were transported to the LBJ Hospital upon arrival of the EMS.

The driver of the other vehicle, Tiresa Lauama was also observed with a laceration on her forehead and was in pain when she was checked by one of the officers.

Lauama’s vehicle had a strong odor of alcohol beverage emitting from within the vehicle, according to the affidavit. Also, while Lauama was breathing hard in pain, the officers reported a strong odor of alcohol beverage emitting from her breath.

Due to Lauama’s injuries at the scene and how much pain she was in, the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST) were canceled. Lauama was transported to the LBJ Hospital upon arrival of another EMS unit. Both vehicles had to be towed away due to the severe damage to both vehicles.

At about 9:33 am, one of the officers spoke with the attending physician who had seen the victims, the doctor gave an update of the victims and also the defendant.

Upon completion of x-ray for the defendant, she was released to the officers for her SFST at the LBJ Hospital.

 At about 10:25 a.m, the defendant was given a copy of the Implied Consent Form whereas she signed to acknowledge she was willing to be submitted to a chemical test of her breath.

The chemical testing resulted in a BAC of .042% at about 10:35 a.m hours. From the initial time of the report for the motor vehicle accident at about 5:17 am until 10:35 a.m, it had been five hours until the driver took the chemical testing.

The affidavit notes that with each hour the decreasing BAC is at 0.015% (hourly decrease in the BAC); and,  if .015% is multiplied by 5 hours, the result would be 0.075%, which when added to the result of the chemical testing of Lauama of 0.042% it would total to a BAC of 0.117%.

(A BAC of .08% is generally used in the US as the baseline to measuring a person’s level of intoxication, with anything over this standard being over the legal limit and enough for a driver to be charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI).)

The defendant was then Mirandized and booked, and later transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility for confinement and to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

The defendant is identified as a 30 year-old U. S National.