Ads by Google Ads by Google

COURT REPORT: Two young men slapped with PPDs after alcohol fueled fights

Court Report logo
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A young man from Vaitogi was arrested last week on the allegation he disturbed the private peace inside his family while intoxicated.

Parataiso Grey Poutasi made his initial appearance in court last week.

He is charged with private peace disturbance (PPD) and underage drinking, both misdemeanors. He was released on his own recognizance. His next court appearance is July 28th.

According to the government’s case, it was on June 16th around 10:56p.m when a woman from Vaitogi contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report a crowd of young children making loud noises, screaming and causing alarm by fighting in front of Akapo’s apartment.

Several police officers responded to the area to investigate the matter and observed two males walking in the direction of the unit. When approached by police, the two males pointed ahead of them saying it was the kids in front of Akapo’s apartment.

When the police unit was about to head on down the road, men from Vaitogi Village Police (VVP) shouted to the DPS officers to stop the two that they had just  stopped and talked with. Immediately, the two males ran away front the police unit and the police unit followed the direction they ran and later apprehended them.

The two males were brought back and members of the VVP somehow settled the disturbances. However, it escalated again when the defendant ran in the direction that the police unit was parked and yelled out to the VVP that he was the reason for the fight.

Then village police came and tried to catch him, and everyone huddled over him while at the same time officers were trying to break up the fighting. The defendant was caught by two other police officers and placed in the police unit and transported to the TPS; all the while another male (L.I) was trying to come for Poutasi (defendant). L.I’s mother came trying to take him home and trying to calm him down because he was acting belligerently.

While all this commotion was happening, officers met with the defendant’s mother who had stated that the disturbances started when she heard her son (defendant) beating her two younger sons because of her lost phone, which caused them to fight.

When she came over to settle the fighting, L.I walked over to where she was standing and L.I and her son (defendant) started fighting before the officers arrived but it was the village police who came in and cleared the fighting.

Few moment later, L.I was able to be calmed down by family members who attested to the fact that he has mental issues. He was removed from the scene by the officers for safety reasons only and to calm him.

Officers detected a strong odor of alcohol emitted from the defendant’s breath along with red blood shot eyes.

The defendant is a 20-year-old.

WILSON FAAMANATU

A 29-year-old man has been charged with disturbing the public peace (PPD) after he allegedly shouted threats and the Samoan War Cry (faaumuumu) at a nightclub parking lot in Tafuna.

Wilson Faamanatu made his initial appearance in court last week where he was scheduled to appear again in court next month for his pretrial conference.

The government claims that on June 13th, 2020, a man called police to report individuals fighting at the parking lot of the nightclub. Several police officers responded to the call and met up with the security guard, who reported that Faamanatu was shouting threats and doing the Samoan War Cry.

Faamanatu and his friends were reported to have approached individuals from the Tafuna area and a fight was close to breaking out. Security guards tried to break up the arguments and only Faamanatu did not cooperate, but continued to shout threats and statements.

People who were at the scene could not stop the commotion because Faamanatu continued to call out to the other group to come back next week “so they can finish this.” According to a witness this went on for about an hour.

Faamanatu was released on his own recognizance awaiting his hearing next month.