Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 26-year-old man accused of punching a male clerk in a store in the Tafuna area and then taking off with $460 cash four months ago was arrested last month pursuant to an arrest warrant. During his apprehension, cops discovered a glass pipe containing methamphetamine (meth) in his possession.

The man was later identified as Taulafo Okesene, the defendant in this matter.

He made his initial appearance in court last month.

Oksene is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, an unclassified felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years, nor more than ten years, a fine of not less than $5,000, nor more than $20,000, or both; one count of robbery in the first-degree; one count of stealing; both felonies; along with a class A misdemeanor charge of 3rd degree assault.

The court set bail for Okesene at $20,000.

Preliminary examination is set for next week.

CASE SUMMARY

The government claims that on the evening of July 22, 2022, the owner of a store in the Tafuna area called the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) regarding a male who allegedly stole $460 from his store and assaulted his male employee.

Several police officers responded to the call and spoke to the caller —who is also the owner of the store — who pointed officers to the location where the victim was standing. Officers approached the victim and interviewed him.

According to the victim’s statement to police, he was counting money getting ready to close the shop, when an unknown male walked in and went straight to the refrigerator at the back of the store, grabbed two large bottles of beer and walked towards him and placed the bottles on the counter.

The store clerk told the man that he couldn’t buy beer because it was 10 p.m. The man argued that it was only 9:50 p.m on his watch.

As the store clerk tried to explain to the man that the law does not allow him to sell alcohol after 10 p.m, the man shoved him and he fell to the ground while the suspect fled on foot (with the cash he had been counting). When he got up, he called out to his two male co-workers who were in the storeroom at the back of the store and they went outside looking for the alleged thief. But, the man could not be found.

The victim was able to show to police footage of the incident that took place at the store.

The following day officers met with three men who were able to identify the individual in the footage of the incident, as Taulafo Okesene, who works at a construction company, however when cops followed up, they learned he was not at work; and, a week later were told that he had resigned and was no longer employed by the company.

Last month, however, officers received a lead from a witness that Okesene was now back at the construction company. Officers proceeded to the company and picked up the suspect and escorted him to the police station for questioning.

During a pat down for weapons or any contraband, officers discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance in Okesene’s pocket. (The substance was tested later, and was positive for meth.)

At that time, Okesene refused to make a statement to police, however, while waiting to be transported to the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF), Okesene informed one of the officers that he wanted to make a statement about what actually happened.

According to Okesene’s statement to police, he did steal the money that was being counted by the clerk, and that after he left the scene, he ran into a friend (Okesene refused to identify the friend), who let him use his cellphone to call for a taxi. He was then picked up by a taxi and he went to Leone, bought some groceries and then headed back to his house.

When asked about the glass pipe containing meth discovered in his pants pocket, Okesene said the glass pipe belonged to him and he bought it from a co-worker. He refused to reveal the name of the co-worker.