Ads by Google Ads by Google

Man who plunged into the sea to swim away from officers, finally gives himself up

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who has a pending matter in the Family, Drug and Alcohol (FDA) court was arrested and charged with criminal contempt.

Salesa Aifili made his initial appearance in District Court two weeks ago.

According to the government's case, police got a call for assistance on, Nov. 28,, reporting that Aifili was drunk and disorderly. A police dispatcher claimed to have heard "people yelling and shouting profane words and children crying" in the background.

Cops who responded to the call say they heard people screaming from several houses down when they approached the area. A search for the suspect was carried out at his home, which is near the ocean.

An officer shined his flashlight at the shore and spotted Aifili standing at the end, "as if he was getting ready to jump into the ocean," according to court documents.

A police officer called out to Aifili to "come up" but Aifili allegedly called back to the cop, "No, I'm leaving."

Aifili then jumped into the ocean and started swimming. One of the cops was trying to make his way down to the edge of the shore but at the same time, the suspect's children were crying loudly. When Aifili heard this, he yelled back at the cops, telling them he was "coming back."

He then swam back to shore and turned himself in. Aifili was transported to the DPS Leone Substation for further questioning.

According to a witness who spoke to police, Aifili came home and started screaming at everyone in the house. The witness said it has become a habit for Aifili to come home and shout profanities at everyone. Aifili reeked of alcohol and according to what the witness told police, his behavior is always like this when he comes home intoxicated