Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On October 1, 2024, a female individual contacted the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) to report an alleged burglary at her mother’s house.

A suspect, Sam Semu, was arrested and charged with:

Count 1: Trespass, a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both.

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

According to the affidavit, on October 1st, at about 4:40 p.m., a female individual contacted the FPS claiming that Sam Semu (suspect) had unlawfully trespassed and broken into their home.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival at the scene at about 5:25 p.m., they were met by a female who introduced herself as the reporter.

The female individual stated that her mom (victim) is the owner of the house. The reporter explained that she wasn’t at home at the time of the incident. However, their caretaker was present at the time. The officers also observed another female individual (later identified as the victim/ homeowner) who was sitting at the table and she introduced their caretaker.

According to the caretaker’s statement, at 7:00 a.m., she was sitting at the kitchen table and saw someone outside of the victim’s room. When the suspect saw her, he ran and crouched behind the sofa trying to hide. She stated she kept calling and asking who it was.

The suspect then stood up and came to where she was standing and tried to go outside. She asked the suspect what he wanted but he didn’t say anything. The caretaker also noted that that she noticed that the suspect’s shoes were outside the back door.

The suspect then tried to go through the garage door but the victim was there. She told the victim what happened and she claimed that the suspect tried to lie by saying that he came to ask permission to cut the banana tree in the back of the house.

After the caretaker’s interview, police asked her if she recognized the individual who was unlawfully inside the house, to which she replied that it was their neighbor — Sam Semu.

The officers requested to speak with the victim and according to the victim, she was sitting outside in the garage area when Semu came outside to the garage using the side door. She asked him what he was doing inside her house and Semu stated that he had come to ask permission to cut the banana tree in the back of the house.

Police officers walked around the house to see if the banana tree was mature enough to be cut down and they observed that it wasn’t, as there was no banana fruit on the tree.

The defendant is identified as a 27-year-old citizen of Samoa.