Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On July 5, 2024, a concerned mother contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) regarding her son allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

The officers later apprehended the suspect and charged him with Count 1: Assault- Third Degree (DV) With Penalty Enhancement — a class A misdemeanor but with a penalty enhancement by one class above the class otherwise provided (class D felony), if found guilty herein.

The defendant’s bail was set at $10,000.

(Samoa News has withheld the names of those involved in this case to protect the identities of the minors in this case)

According to the affidavit, on July 5, 2024 at about 3:05 p.m, a female individual called the TPS claiming that her son (suspect) was cursing at his girlfriend and repeatedly hearing loud bangs like someone was being assaulted in her son’s room.

Upon arrival at the scene, police officers met with the female individual and interviewed her. When the officers asked her about her son’s whereabouts, the mother stated that he had left with his girlfriend (later identified as the victim).

The mother pointed towards the jungle where her son and his girlfriend were last seen. As officers were leaving to find the defendant, they observed the defendant and victim walking towards them. The defendant was quickly apprehended at the scene.

As officers continued to interview the mother of the defendant at the scene, she stated that she was inside her room when she heard a loud noise coming from her son’s room. She explained that it was as if something was being hit repeatedly. She also stated that her son was cursing repeatedly while in his room and it disturbed her.

The officers also interviewed the defendant’s father and he stated that he was standing outside his room when he heard loud bangs like something was being struck repeatedly coming from his son’s room. Later, he explained that heard his son cursing repeatedly and then observed his son’s girlfriend exit the room. The father explained “that it seemed like the girlfriend was beaten up because of her reaction.”

The defendant was then placed inside the police unit while his girlfriend and her two children were placed inside a separate police unit to be transported at the TPS for further investigation.

Upon arrival at the station, the police officers interviewed the victim.

According to the victim, she was in their room when her boyfriend walked in with their infant baby looking very angry. When she asked why he looked angry, he replied back stating “our baby is sick because you’re not doing your job as a mother.”

She then stated that he got mad and slammed the room’s door and started kicking items in their room which made her scared for their baby’s safety. The victim further stated that the defendant started cursing at her repeatedly which made her leave the room since he might hurt her. The victim said that the defendant did not assault her, but she felt threatened by his presence when he was mad.

The victim further explained that on June 3, 2024 during evening time, she was sleeping in their room when the defendant walked in and started accusing her of having a secret affair with another man. At first, she thought he was trying to be funny until she told him that she wasn’t doing his laundry anymore. She claimed it made the defendant mad and out of anger, he punched her on the left side of her cheek and then he left the house. She explained that her cheek was in pain after she was punched.

The affidavit noted that the victim did in fact sustain a small bruise on her left cheek and that the victim did not wish to be treated by EMS. However, the victim stated that the defendant was on probation.

At about 4:40 p.m, the defendant was Mirandized, and agreed to make a statement and answer questions.

According to the defendant, he admitted to slamming the door of their room and cursing at his girlfriend repeatedly. He also stated that the reason for his actions was because his son looked sick and that the girlfriend acted like she didn’t care about their baby’s health and it made him angry.

The defendant also admitted to punching his girlfriend on July 3, 2024 because she told him that she won’t be doing his laundry after he accused her of having a secret lover.

On June 5, 2024 at about 4:45 p.m, Child Protective Services (CPS) was contacted by police officers. The defendant was booked at the TPS and later transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility to be confined and await the next available sitting of the District Court.

At around 5:50 p.m, CPS did their assessment and was told that they were taking the victim back to the boyfriend’s home.

The defendant is identified as an 18 year-old U.S National whereas the victim is identified as a 33 year-old citizen of Samoa.