Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On March 2, 2024, at about 4:22 a.m, a small commercial bus in Nu'uuli heading towards the east side was stopped by police after it was observed picking up a passenger without completely pulling over, as well as being in an area where loading passengers is restricted.

Mr. Salemona Sio was charged with one count of Resisting Arrest — a class A misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for up to one (1) year, a fine of $1000, or both.

Bail for the defendant was set at $1000.

According to the affidavit, police officers pulled over the bus when they saw a passenger boarding a bus, which had both the front and rear tires of the vehicle still on the eastbound lane, “obstructing the flow of traffic traveling eastbound.”

Officers instructed the bus to pull over and the driver pulled over in front of Paradise Inc. store. It was during the traffic stop that driver was identified as Salemona Sio and that he did not have a commercial permit to drive a commercial vehicle.

“The driver rendered only his private driver’s license.”

Sio was warned and issued a citation, and the officers instructed him to “return to his residence and park the small commercial bus and not operate it anymore until he has his commercial permit.”

However, at about 5 a.m, according to the affidavit, police officers observed the same commercial vehicle, with the same driver, in the same area, passing by, heading east.

According to the affidavit, one of the officers waved it down, using a handheld flashlight and called out the bus driver’s name.

The officer said Sio looked at him “and as I waved him down and yelled out to pull over, he started to speed up and not pull over.”

The affidavit states that the police officers continued to conduct the traffic stop by following Sio in a police vehicle, eastbound, “with emergency lights activated.”

No bus was seen, and the officers turned around at H&L Mart 1, “deactivated the emergency lights and started patrolling westbound.”

Their patrol was successful, as they were able to find the bus in front of a family’s residence in Nu’uuli “where the road ends” — the bus had no lights on, but Sio was “observed still inside the bus, and quickly started pretending he was looking for something.”

One of the officers approached Sio and instructed him “to exit the bus, but he started saying that he was there to pick up keys from his sister.”

He was further asked by the officer as to why he did not stop “but he apologized and stated, ‘I was coming to pick up my keys from my sister’.”

Sio was apprehended and transported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS). The bus was impounded to TPS.

According to the affidavit, Sio was also issued a citation for an ‘unsafe vehicle’ due to the steering wheel not being stable, according to the officer that drove it TPS.

Fleeing/ Eluding police along with non-possession of a commercial permit were all cited on the same traffic citation issued to Sio.

Sio was booked and transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility for confinement to await the next sitting of the District Court.

The defendant is identified as a 32-year-old citizen of Samoa.