Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On June 21, 2024 at about 11:49pm, the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) received a call from a female individual seeking assistance for a male individual identified as Stone Filisi. Filisi allegedly was shouting profanity and throwing beer bottles near the woman’s home and injured one of the neighbors.

The defendant was charged with the following:

Count 1: Public Peace Disturbance — a class B misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for six (6) months, a fine of $500, or both; and,

Count 2: Assault in the Third Degree — a class A misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1000, or both.

Bail for the defendant was set at $1000.

According to the affidavit, when officers arrived on the scene they met with the victim. Police officers observed a small laceration and swelling on the left side of the victim’s head. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was contacted for treatment of the victim’s injuries.

The victim briefed officers on the incident and explained that the suspect fled the scene before officers arrived.

In his statement, the victim said that at around 10:00pm, the suspect shouted profanity and yelled the Samoan war cry (faaumu) in front of his (victim’s) residence, nonstop.

At around 11:00pm, the suspect came back and “continued his violent behavior towards the neighborhood shouting profanity words and shouting out the Samoan war cry while everyone was sleeping.”

The victim explained that he approached the suspect, asked him what he was doing, and requested that he go home. It was then that the suspect threw a green bottle of beer at the victim and hit the victim on his forehead. The suspect also began to throw punches, however the victim fought back in self defense.

The victim’s father then came out and yelled out for the suspect to stop before he contacted the cops. The victim expressed his frustration as he stated, “this is not the first time that Stone Filisi has done this.”

Police officers noted that the victim was later treated at the TPS for the minor laceration and swelling on the left side of his head.

Officers spoke with a witness who said, “as he prepared to sleep, he heard a male individual shout profanity words and yelled the Samoan war cry nonstop in front of his residence.” The witness sent his son out to tell the individual to “stop and go home”. A few seconds after his son left, he went out to check on him and “saw his (son’s) face was covered by blood”. The witness immediately rushed out to stop the fight but the suspect continued to curse and challenge the victim to fight.

The defendant was identified as a 19-year-old US National.

The affidavit does not state if the defendant Stone Filisi has been arrested, nor was a reason given for his alleged aggressive behavior towards the victim or family.