Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On September 11, 2024, a high school counselor contacted the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) to report an alleged harassment of a 17- year-old minor by her 25-year-old boyfriend.

The defendant was arrested and charged with:

Count 1: Resisting Arrest, a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both; and,

Count 2: Harassment, a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $5,000.

On September 11th, at around 2:24 p.m., a school counselor contacted the Fagatogo Police Station for assistance regarding a 17-year-old female. The counselor reported that the female minor is in her office going through a mental breakdown because her boyfriend was threatening her on the phone, making her scared to go home.

Police officers proceeded to the call and upon arrival at the school, they met with the counselor and the school principal. Officers observed a female student in the office who was crying and telling the counselor she was scared.

The school counselor briefed the officers about the matter and she stated that she and the principal were worried about the female’s mental state — that the minor was having a breakdown over a 25 year-old male adult.

During the time the officers were briefed, the victim’s phone kept ringing and the suspect’s name constantly appeared on the cell phone.

The school principal explained that she and the counselor took the minor’s phone because it was ringing every five minutes during class. She also stated that they saw the messages on the victim’s phone from the suspect harassing and accusing the minor.

The school counselor willingly provided her written statement and informed the minor that she called the police to get help for her.

The minor was reluctant to cooperate at the time, continuing to sob but she eventually provided her father’s contact number.

The authorities contacted the victim’s father and informed him to make his way to the FPS regarding the matter with his daughter, and he agreed to come to the station right away.

According to the counselor’s written statement, the victim came to her while she was in the principal’s office handling another case. The counselor asked the victim if she was okay and the victim said no, so she asked the victim to wait for her. Afterwards, she and the principal brought her to the office and asked her several questions to which she later showed them her phone with a guy on the line.

The counselor stated they asked the minor about the male after he hung up and she explained that he’s her boyfriend. The counselor then took her to her office where the male individual started to call the victim again.

The victim answered the phone and started to talk to the male individual. The counselor asked the victim if that was her boyfriend again because she started to get uneasy and she answered yes. Moreover, the counselor explained she then spoke with the young man on the phone and he did not seem mentally stable and kept saying that she doesn’t know anything. She told him that he has to stop calling the victim because she needs to go to class and he replied okay. Not long after the phone rang again.

The counselor further claimed that she observed numerous messages and incoming calls from the suspect and they made the victim cry more.

After seeing the messages that claimed were manipulative, negative and aggressive, she decided to report the matter to the principal. She went with the victim to the principal’s office where they tried to contact the father to inform him of the situation but efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.

At the same time, the victim continued to cry because she didn’t want her father to find out. Therefore, the principal contacted the FPS for assistance.

The authorities assisted the minor to the police unit to be transported to the FPS for further investigation, and while transporting the victim to the FPS, the victim received a call from her father asking her about her whereabouts, because her grandfather contacted him that an unknown male individual was inside their house.

The victim’s father assumed that the victim was inside their house with this unknown male individual. The victim tried to reason with her father by letting him know that she was with the authorities being transported to the police station, but he refused to believe her. The victim handed her phone to one of the officers to confirm her whereabouts.

As soon as the father realized that his daughter was not at their house, he informed the officer that two unknown male individuals were seen by his father (victim’s grandfather) breaking into their house.

Upon arrival at the station, the officers went to the victim’s house while an officer stayed with the victim for further questioning. The officer also informed the father about the call from the school counselor regarding his daughter.

The Department of Social Services (DHSS) was then contacted regarding the matter.

Upon arrival at the victim’s residence at around 5:20 p.m., officers observed an unknown male walking outside of the house and they went inside the house, with an unknown male following them inside.

Police officers met with an old man inside the house who was later identified as the victim’s grandfather. He explained that he reported to his son (victim’s father) about the incident. At the same time, an unknown male was walking around and pointing at the ceiling informing the officers that someone was hiding in the ceiling of the house.

The officers started calling to that said individual, allegedly in the ceiling, to come down. The officers then used a ladder to get to the ceiling and saw that there was no indication of anyone being there. The unknown male later pointed to the other side of the ceiling, which the officers also searched, but there was no one.

The officers questioned the victim’s grandfather and he explained that the male inside the house is Mapu Laetigaga and he is in a relationship with his granddaughter. He further stated that the suspect came to him and told him that there are people breaking into the house and hiding in the ceiling. They went to look around and he later contacted his son to report the situation.

Later, the officers questioned the unknown male inside the house for his name and he replied that his name is Mapu and he is the victim’s boyfriend. The suspect then asked about the victim’s whereabouts and one of the officers informed him that she was at the FPS.

The suspect wanted to confirm it was the victim and asked for her age where the officers notified him she was 17 years old.

The suspect was then apprehended and after handcuffing the suspect, officers went to put him inside the unit where he started to resist by forcefully moving around.

After placing him inside the unit, the suspect continued to resist and jumped outside of the unit where a stainless kitchen knife fell from his pocket onto the backseat. One of the officers removed the weapon from the backseat. The suspect continued to resist by moving around until the officers were able to place him inside the unit. The police unit proceeded to the FPS whereas the suspect was yelling in the unit several times to call the Pastor.

As the police unit approached a hill, the suspect attempted to try and jump outside the window at the back of the passenger side. Both police units came to a stop where the suspect jumped outside but was caught by one of the officers. The officers tried to place him back into the unit however, the suspect continued to resist by forcefully moving around while on the ground and kept yelling at bystanders on the road.

The village men on the road for village curfew assisted the officers in apprehending the suspect and placing him back in the police unit. The suspect continued to resist so he was carried and placed in the back of the police truck and they proceeded to the station for further investigation.

At around 6:55 p.m., the suspect was Mirandized to which he understood and refused to make a statement.

The victim’s father filed a withdrawal of complaint regarding the incident and requested to withdraw the case regarding the suspect trespassing into his residence.

The suspect was booked at the FPS and later transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility to be confined for 48 hours.

The defendant is identified as a 25-year-old U.S National.