Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On July 6, 2024, a male individual contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report that he had allegedly been assaulted by four individuals.

The suspects: Gauta Satele, Avele Satele, Sialia Fesagaiga, and Tagiilima Samu were later arrested and all charged with the following:

Count 1: Public Peace Disturbance — a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both; and,

Count 2: Assault in the 2nd Degree — a class D felony punishable by imprisonment by a term of imprisonment not to exceed five years, a fine not to exceed $5,000, or both.

Bail for each suspect is set at $10,000.

According to the affidavit, on July 6, at around 6:30 p.m, a male individual contacted the TPS to report that he had been assaulted by four individuals at a store in their village.

Police officers responded to the said call and met up with the male individual (who was later identified as the victim). The officers observed minor scratches on the victim’s face and that his right eye was swollen.

The officers conducted a field interview of the victim at the scene.

The victim verbally stated that he was inside the store shopping when he was approached by Gauta Satele, Avele Satele, and Sialia Fesagaiga with cricket bats. He was asked by Gauta what he said to his kids. When he tried to tell them that he spoke to two grown men and not kids, the victim stated that Fesagaiga swung at him and that’s when Gauta and Avele jumped in and started attacking him.

After he was attacked, he then contacted the TPS to report the assault.

The responding officers located the three suspects at Avele Satele’s residence. More officers assisted in arresting and transporting the three suspects to the TPS for further investigation while the 4th suspect, Tagiilima Samu fled the scene after the incident.

Upon arrival at the TPS, police officers Mirandized the three suspects separately, and they waived their rights and offered verbal statements.

One of the officers interrogated suspect #1, Gauta Satele where he verbally stated that he and his sister Avele Satele’s kids were playing cricket when the kids ran to them and told them that the victim swore and told their kids to get off the land. He stated, “that heated them [up] so they went and approached the victim and they fought.”

Officers also interrogated suspect #2, Avele Satele and she verbally stated that her and her brother’s kids were playing cricket when their kids ran to them and told them that they were told by the victim to get off the land.

Upon interrogating suspect #3, Sialia Fesagaiga, she stated that the victim swore at the kids while playing cricket. The kids went to tell their parents and she was there. She explained they all went to approach the victim and they ended up fighting because the victim punched her first. Sialia also stated the names of the two kids who were there when the victim swore at them.

The officers interviewed one of the kids at the TPS where she verbally stated that they were playing cricket when the victim swore and told them to get out of the land because it’s not their land. He also told them they don’t belong there. That’s when they stopped their game and went and told their parents.

The officers were provided with footage from the store regarding the alleged assault.

Review of the footage showed the victim being approached by Gauta Satele, Avele Satele and Sialia Fesagaiga inside the store. The victim and Gauta were talking to each other back and forth when Fesagaiga was standing between them. Fesagaiga reached for the victim’s mouth twice using her right hand and then swung at the victim with her left hand hitting the victim’s mouth. Gauta Satele jumped in and struck the victim’s head using a cricket bat twice.

Moreover, Avele Satele also had a cricket bat whereas she swung at the victim but missed. The victim managed to snatch the cricket bat from Gauta Satele whereas they started scuffling when Gauta grabbed the victim from the back and started choking him using his arms. As the victim was scuffling trying to free himself from Gauta choking him, Tagiilima Samu jumped in and swung once at the victim using his right hand while Sialia used the cricket bat to hit the victim on the left side of his head.

Samu continued to punch the victim seven times with his right fist while the victim was gasping for air trying to escape from Gauta’s choke hold. As Gauta, the victim and Samu were scuffling, Avele used the cricket bat she was holding to hit the victim once in his stomach. The victim fought his way out of the choke lock Gauta had on him and ran behind the counter of the cash register and yelled out to Gauta of what he did a few years back. That’s when Gauta, Avele, Fesagaiga and Samu left the store.

The victim sustained minor scratches on his face, his left eye was bruised while his right eye was swollen. The victim’s left ear was also bruised and the left side of his head had red marks on it. The left side of his face was also swollen.

The victim went with his wife for medical care after the incident.

The suspects are identified as follow:

Gauta Satele is a 42 year-old U.S National, Sialia Ioane Fesagaiga is identified as a 45 year-old citizen of Samoa, Avele Satele is identified as a 38-year old. (Affidavit does not state her Nationality), and Tagiilima Samu is identified as 25-year-old citizen of Samoa.