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Man accused of burglarizing his Aunty's house twice bound over to High Court

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The case against a man accused of burglarizing a home twice and allegedly stealing several items including cash has been bound over to High Court, after District Court Judge Elvis P. Patea found probable cause to support the charges during a preliminary examination this week.

Jason Uili, also know as “Tai” is charged with 3 counts of stealing; 3 counts of 2nd degree burglary; and one count of resisting arrest, all class C felonies, punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

Judge Elvis P. Patea set bail at $30,000.

Prosecuting the case is Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey, while Assistant Public Defender Bob Stuart is representing Uili.

During court proceedings Monday afternoon, prosecutor Garvey called one witness, DPS Vice and Narcotics Unit Det. Savelio Vaofanua who testified that the defendant admitted to investigators regarding his role in the alleged incident. (Read March 3, 2020 Samoa News story for details.)

Vaofanua stated that on Feb. 11, 2020, he was assigned to be the lead investigator in the case where a home and a school building were burglarized by an unknown person.

During his investigation, he interviewed the couple who owned the house in Leone, burglarized twice allegedly by the same suspect. The suspect was later identified as Uili, the defendant in this matter, and the nephew of the couple.

The couple told investigators that they saw Uili inside their house on the night of Feb. 10, standing inside the master bedroom, stealing items from inside the house including the woman’s wallet containing cards and cash.

According to Vaofanua’s testimony, the couple chased the suspect but was unsuccessful because he ran too fast. The couple provided investigators with a description of the defendant.

Six days after the alleged incident, investigators spotted the defendant riding on a motorcycle without a helmet in the Faleniu area. A chase ensued with investigators finally apprehending the defendant a few hours later in the Ottoville area near the Fatuoaiga Catholic Church and transported him to the Tafuna Substation for further investigation.

When questioned about the burglary at his aunty’s house, Vaofanua stated that the defendant immediately admitted that on the night of Feb. 10, he broke into his relatives’ home in Leone and stole his aunt’s wallet and cash. He also admitted to using the credit card he found inside the wallet with two friends and his accomplice.

According to Vaofanua, the defendant further admitted that he broke into the same home twice. The first incident happened in late January 2020 at night and he stole jewelry.

The defendant, in addition, admitted that during the same time period, late January of 2020, he and his accomplice stole copper from St. Theresa’s, a private school in Leone.

The defendant kept shaking his head side to side whenever the witness spoke of his admissions of wrongdoing.

In cross examination, the witness, Vaofanua, maintained that the defendant admitted to him about his involvement in these cases.

“How did you confirm that it was my client who allegedly used the couple’s card to purchase goods from several stores on the west side,” Stuart asked the witness.

The witness said not only did they get confirmation from the stores, but the defendant also admitted to using the couple’s card to purchase several items from several stores.

Of the stolen copper wire, Stuart asked Vaofanua, “How did you know that the copper wire was stolen from the school in Leone?”

Vaofanua replied that it was a representative from ASPA (American Samoa Power Authority) who contacted their office and informed them about copper wire stolen from the St. Theresa School compound in Leone.

When he appeared in High Court this week, Uili entered a not guilty plea to all the charges against him.

His first pretrial conference is now set for Apr. 26th, 2020.