Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On March 22, 2024, a concerned neighbor contacted Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report two men fighting and throwing rocks. The neighbor stated that one of her cousin’s cars was damaged as a result of the disturbance.

Two suspects, Pesaeli Poufa and Vaaimamao Poufa, were apprehended and later charged with the following.

Both were charged with Public Peace Disturbance — a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for six (6) months, a fine of $500, but not less than $150, or both.

Pesaeli Poufa was charged with an additional charge of Property Damage in the Third Degree — a class B misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for up to six (6) months, a fine of $500, or both.

Bail for Pesaeli was set at $500, while no bail was indicated in the affidavit for Vaaimamao.

According to the affidavit, on March 22, at about 10:32 a.m, the TPS was contacted by a concerned neighbor to report an incident of two male individuals fighting and shouting profanities next to her house.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival at the scene the two male individuals had already fled the scene.

One of the officers met up with the neighbor (witness) where she briefly explained about the incident to the officers. According to the witness's verbal statement, they were having a gathering with her cousins in front of their house and they heard Vaimamao Poufa and Pesaeli Poufa yelling profanities inside their house.

She stated that they were also throwing stones at each other, which allegedly ended up causing damage to one of her cousin’s car windshield.

Police officers canvassed the area to locate the two suspects.

While canvassing the area one of the officers spotted Vaaimamao (suspect #1) and approached him. Suspect #1 was apprehended and placed inside the police unit.

The officers continued to canvas the area to locate Pesaeli (suspect #2) but he was nowhere to be found.

Suspect #1 was transported to the TPS for further investigation.

 Upon arrival at the TPS at about 11:16 am, Vaaimamao was Mirandized where he understood and waived his rights. He agreed to make a statement and answer questions.

According to Vaaimamao’s verbal and written statement, he explained that he got into an argument with his brother Pesaeli.

He stated that he went to the store to buy a dozen eggs because he was hungry and he came home and boiled the eggs. Vaaimamao explained he took most of the eggs and left his brother a few eggs and that’s when his brother got mad.

Vaaimamao also said that his brother then threw the eggs outside and started cursing at him, and he responded by cursing back at his brother, and he also chased his brother out of the house.

Furthermore, Vaaimamao stated he said something about his brother’s ex-girlfriend and that’s when his brother started throwing rocks at him.

One of the rocks ended up causing damage to one of the neighbor’s cars, which is when they started walking away from the house, according to Vaaimamao.

Vaaimamao was booked and confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility (TCF) to await the next sitting in the District Court.

On the same date at about 11:35 a.m, officers proceeded to locate Pesaelli (suspect #2) in Fagaima where he was apprehended and transported to the TPS for further investigation.

Upon arrival at the TPS, Pesaelli was Mirandized and agreed to make a statement.

He verbally stated that he told his brother to clean up the mess he made with the kitchen. He said that Vaaimamao got mad and started cursing at him. He then told Vaaimamao to get out of the house and go find somewhere to go, but he refused.

Pesaeli explained that when started to walk away, his brother yelled at him and said something about his ex-girlfriend and called him stupid. He stated that’s when he threw only two stones where one ended up hitting someone’s vehicle causing damage to the windshield.

Pesaeli was booked and confined at the TCF to await the next sitting of the District Court.