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Man calls cops to arrest son-in-law "to teach him a lesson"

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 44-year-old man who was released from custody just last month after posting a $500 bond has been arrested for disturbing the public peace.

It was around 1:54a.m on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018 when the Tafuna Substation received a call from a man asking for police assistance in arresting his son-in-law, Apelu Pati, who was disturbing the peace at their Vaitogi residence.

Cops who responded to the call met the witness who told them that Pati has a habit of coming home from work intoxicated and disturbing the neighborhood. He said he wanted him arrested to teach him a lesson.

When Pati noticed police presence in front of their home, he immediately ran to the back of the house and hid under a tree.

Cops were able to get Pati into a police unit and he was escorted to the Tafuna Substation.

According to police, Pati reeked of alcohol when he was being questioned; and told police he just got bailed out and doesn't want to go back to prison.

Pati made his initial appearance before District Court Judge Fiti Sunia yesterday morning. He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Ryan Anderson, while prosecuting the case was Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey.

He is charged with one count of disturbing the public peace (PPD).

Sunia established Pati’s bond at $500.

Anderson asked the court for a bail reduction, saying this is the season that people need to work to earn money for their families. The prosecutor opposed the motion, reminding the court that Pati was released from custody last month after posting bond, and was ordered by the court to remain law abiding; however, he is now back in court for another public peace disturbance.

Sunia reduced Pati’s bond to $200. He was ordered to comply with conditions set forth during his previous case, which includes no alcohol and illegal drugs.

Pati is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 09, 2019 for a pretrial conference.