Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On May 9, 2024, a concerned friend contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report an alleged domestic violence crime between her friend and her husband. The concerned friend also sent in a photo of the victim to police.

The defendant was later apprehended and charged with:

Count 1: Private Peace Disturbance, a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300; and,

Count 2: Assault in the Third Degree (DV), a class A misdemeanor punishable for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $5,000.

(Samoa News has withheld names of those involved to protect the identities of the minors in this case.)

According to the affidavit, at about 9:37 a.m, a woman contacted the TPS in regards to an alleged assault between her friend and husband (later identified as the suspect) from the village of Fagaima. A photograph was sent via Facebook from the women to one of the DPS Lieutenants.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival at about 9:58 a.m, they observed the husband sleeping in the living room with their 2 daughters and the victim in the bedroom lying on the bed. It was reported that the victim wasn’t able to get up from her bed due to a severe headache.

EMS was contacted immediately to meet at the TPS for medical treatment for the victim. It was noted that the victim had a bruised swollen right eye, swollen upper lip and minor scratches on her facial area.

On the same date at around 10:00 a.m, officers apprehended the husband (defendant) and he was placed in the police unit. The victim and her children were also transported to TPS to have the EMT assist her with medical treatment. The victim requested to have her children placed with her friend until she returned from the hospital.

Officers were also able to interview the 9 year-old minor in the presence of her mother. According to the 9 year-old, she didn’t see her father assaulting her mother. However, she was told by her father to grab ice for her.

 At around 10:30 a.m, EMT arrived and treated the victim and transported her to the LBJ Hospital for medical treatment.

Upon arrival at DPS, the defendant was Mirandized in which he waived his rights and was willing to answer questions and provide a written statement.

According to the defendant’s written statement, he was in the kitchen with his wife when his wife’s phone rang. He explained that his wife answered the facebook messenger. When his wife answered the call a guy started laughing and his wife hung up the phone. After the call, the defendant stated his wife went to the store and then he started drinking two cans of beer.

When his wife returned from the store, he asked his wife again about who called her on messenger. The defendant claimed that the wife said, “It was a guy she used to talk to and also there’s a different guy that called her earlier.”

The defendant stated he wanted his wife to apologize but it led to both of them arguing more. He said that his wife got dressed and was about to leave the house so he pushed her to the wall and his wife started punching him in the face.

The defendant was later booked and transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility to await the next sitting of the District Court.

At around 3:15 p.m, the victim contacted the TPS and notified the police officers that she had been cleared from the hospital. Officers then proceeded to LBJ to transport the victim back to the TPS to wait for the arrival of the Child Protective Services (CPS).

CPS officers arrived at the TPS and conducted their assessment and informed the officers that they would take the victim with them to pick up her children and take them back to their house in Fagaima.

During the victim’s interview, she explained that it was in the evening while making dinner that her husband was upset when a guy called her on the Facebook messenger. She stated she didn’t want to answer the call because she didn’t know who it was.

The victim said that her husband wanted to argue and asked her if they could talk in the morning because he’s drunk. However, while in bed, the victim claimed that her husband grabbed her mouth and still wanted to talk about the person who called earlier. She then ignored him and walked to the bathroom and locked it and then her husband came and knocked on the bathroom door. She opened the bathroom door and the defendant rushed in and started to choke her.

The victim stated that she couldn't recall what happened last night until she woke up this morning and noticed her eye was bruised and her face was swollen.

The defendant is identified as a 33 year-old citizen of Samoa.