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Man ends up in the ICU following a Malaeimi house party

American Samoa District Court building
Defendant is charged with felony assault
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 42-year-old man accused of assaulting another man in Malaeimi by striking the victim’s head with a metal pipe made his initial appearance in District Court last week.

Faletolu Amosa is charged with one count of second degree assault, a class D felony, carrying a prison sentence of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

Bond is set at $10,000.

Defense attorney, Assistant Public Defender, Ryan Anderson asked the court to reduce his client’s bond to $5,000, arguing that Amosa is not a flight risk and has no criminal record. Prosecutor Jason Mitchell opposed the motion, saying Amosa is a citizen of Samoa and he’s on island visiting his family; therefore he is a flight risk who must be kept in prison until his case is resolved. The court agreed and denied the motion.

Amosa waived his right to a preliminary hearing and his case is bound over to High Court where he will appear tomorrow morning for arraignment.

THE CASE

Around 12:12a.m on Sept. 22nd, a man called the DPS Tafuna Substation to report that they were transporting to the LBJ, a male who was assaulted in Malaeimi. According  to the government, the victim is a 39-year-old married man and father of 5 from Nu’uuli.

The government claims that the main witness — a male — and several family members were engaged in a drinking session at a home in Malaeimi the day before. Later in the evening, another family member stopped by, together with Amosa.

Everything was okay until a little past midnight, when the homeowner got into a verbal argument with the victim, after the victim allegedly accused the homeowner of hiding beer in his vehicle.

As a joke, the homeowner told the victim that is was Amosa who stole the beer and hid it in the backpack he was carrying that night. That’s when Amosa allegedly exited the house and walked out to where other family members were.

The witness told police that when Amosa re-entered the home, he saw him holding a metal pipe, which he used to strike the victim on the back, before hitting him on the head. The victim was immediately transported to the hospital. Amosa was apprehended at his uncle’s home in Nuuuli and transported to the police station for questioning.

Amosa confirmed to investigators that his friend had invited him to a party in Malaeimi. He said he knows that victim, because he is the one person that has always helped him since he arrived in the territory.

He said everything was good during the party but he felt ashamed when the victim made fun of him, telling everyone he stole the beer and hid it in his backpack. Amosa said when he walked out to the parking lot, he heard the victim say something about him drinking all the beer and eating all the food at the party. He said he felt embarrassed and angry at the same time, and he wanted to do something to the victim.

According to Amosa, he saw a metal pipe in the back of a truck parked in front the house. He said he grabbed the pipe, and made his way back to the house where he struck the victim on his back before he hit him on the head, causing the victim to fall off the chair.

At that time, Amosa said, the victim was groaning, blood was dripping from his head because of a laceration on the top part of his skull. While Amsoa was making his way out, a male relative of the victim punched Amosa in the face.

Meanwhile, the victim was admitted and referred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for further observation.