Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who was arrested last month on the allegation that he assaulted his wife and threatened to kill her was allegedly found with drugs in his pocket when he was apprehended. Moreover, the defendant had an outstanding two-year-old warrant for his arrest for a drug violation.

The defendant made his initial appearance in District Court last month.

The government filed two separate criminal cases against the defendant who will not be named in order to protect the privacy of his wife and family, who are the victims in this matter.

In the first case, the defendant is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five nor more than ten years, a fine or not less than $5,000 not more than $20,000, or both; along with one count of 2nd- degree assault (involving domestic violence) and one count of 1st- degree abuse of a child (involving domestic violence), both class D felonies.

In the second case, the defendant is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and the unlawful possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, both felonies.

Bail is set at $25,000.

THE ALLEGATION

On Oct. 6, 2022 around 6:30p.m, a man contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) requesting assistance for his sister and his sister’s children who had been assaulted at their home in Ottoville. The caller told police that he’s concerned for his sister’s safety because the husband allegedly threatened to kill her and the children.

Shortly thereafter, the same man contacted TPS again and informed them that he’s parked in front of his sister’s house in Ottoville and he’s heard a male voice shouting from inside the house.

When asked by police who is inside the house, the caller said it was his sister, his sister’s husband (defendant) and their children. The caller further told police that when he arrived at the house, his sister’s husband opened the front door of the house and called out to him not to set foot inside the house.

Responding to the call, officers knocked on the door and a woman, who was later identified as the victim, opened the door and asked police to come inside.

According to the victim’s statement to police, she was cutting grass at the back of their house that afternoon when she heard her kids crying. She was shocked when her husband approached her in an angry manner telling her to give him the car key. She refused.

So her husband left and walked back to the house. Moments later, her husband walked back to her with a knife in his right hand and attempted to stab her in the chest but she quickly moved backward while yelling at her husband to stop.

The wife continued to refuse to give her husband the car key and that’s when he pushed his wife causing her to fall down.

The wife stood up and told her husband she’s going to call the police and grabbed her phone but the defendant managed to grab her from the back trying to take the phone away from her. While scuffing with her husband, she fainted and fell to the ground. She regained consciousness, when a neighbor and her daughter splashed water on her trying to wake her up.

Police interviewed the neighbor about what happened. According to the neighbor, the defendant was angry with his wife’s family. The defendant came home and assaulted his 11-year-old son by punching and slapping him on the back of his head. Furthermore, the defendant tried to strangle his wife while she was lying on the ground.

Police were unable to locate the defendant. The following morning the defendant’s wife contacted the TPS and informed investigators that her husband (defendant) was at home sleeping in his shack located at the back of their house.

Officers went to the defendant’s shack and apprehended him. Before the defendant was taken into custody, he was patted down for weapons.

During a body search, cops discovered a glass pipe in the defendant’s pocket containing a white crystalline substance. In a further search of the defendant, cops also found two small stamp sized baggies containing a green leafy substance in his rear pocket. Both substances were tested and the crystalline substance tested positive for meth while the green leafy substance tested positive for THC/ marijuana.

The defendant was Mirandized and he agreed to make a statement to police about what happened.

The defendant admitted to threatening his wife trying to intimidate her into giving him the car key. He also admitted slapping his son and making threatening remarks to his wife’s family.

Furthermore, the defendant admitted that he attempted to strangle his wife and threatened to kill her family.

When questioned about the drugs found in his pocket, the defendant told investigators that drugs were bought from a man who is his regular dealer.

When the defendant’s name was entered into the police database, it raised a red flag about an outstanding warrant on unlawful possession charges.

When question by the investigator he was asked if he remembered an incident back in May 2020 where drugs were allegedly found in his vehicle when it was pulled over by police. The defendant told investigators that he remembered an incident where marijuana was found inside his vehicle, but he was never charged in that matter.

He further stated that he never checked the inside of the vehicle when he got into it. He was just driving home without any knowledge that there were drugs inside.

When investigators mentioned his telephone conversation with another person — while his girlfriend was listening — where they talked about drugs, the defendant denied the conversation took place.

The white crystalline substance tested positive for meth; while the green leafy substance tested positive for THC/ marijuana.

The defendant was released to go home after he was questioned by investigators pending further investigation.