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In separate cases, 2 men charged for assaulting their wives

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — In two separate cases, men were arrested and charged for disturbing the peace inside their homes by assaulting their wives and making unreasonable noise. The alleged domestic violence cases occurred after the men consumed alcohol with their friends.

During the arrest, cops discovered a glass pipe containing methamphetamine (meth) in one of the defendant’s pockets.

The first case occurred in Futiga; the other, in Malaeimi.

The two men in their early 50s made their initial appearances in District Court last month.

CASE IN FUTIGA

On Sept. 21, 2022 around 10:21p.m, a woman contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) requesting police assistance after she was allegedly assaulted by her husband. Several police officers responded and discovered a woman sitting at a bus stop crying. The woman was later identified as the victim.

The victim told investigators that her husband assaulted her after she approached him regarding his paycheck, and while he was intoxicated. She claims he had used most of his paycheck to drink with a friend and when she confronted him about it, he became angry.

The verbal argument escalated between the couple until it reached a point where her husband began assaulting her, and then started damaging items in their house, and demanding she give him his portion of the stimulus check.

As the defendant was destroying things inside the house, the victim stood up and ran outside of the house and called police for assistance.

After speaking with the victim, investigators went to the back of the house and discovered the defendant sitting on a big rock drinking a large bottle of beer. When asked if he had assaulted his wife, the defendant immediately started crying and knelt on the ground asking investigators to forgive him.

Investigators apprehended the defendant and transported him to the TPS for further investigation. When asked about the incident, he admitted that he assaulted his wife out of anger after she questioned him about his paycheck.

Before the defendant was transported to the TPS for questioning, he was patted down for weapons and contrabands. During his arrest, cops discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance inside his pocket. The white crystalline substance tested positive for meth.

This defendant is charged with unlawful possession of meth, a felony, along with 3rd -degree assault and public peace disturbance, both misdemeanors.

Bail is set at $5,000 and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week.

CASE IN MALAEIMI

On Sept. 22 around 9p.m, the TPS received a phone call from a female saying that her uncle was walking around the house with a machete in his hand and their family needed police assistance. The caller further told police that her uncle had just finished assaulting his wife.

Several police officers responded to the call and observed a man walking on the side of the road with a machete in his hand. Police surrounded the man and instructed him to put down the machete. The man complied before surrendering to police.

Officers then went to the house and met up with a young female who was later identified as the person who had called police. She told police that her uncle was very intoxicated and had assaulted his wife. She further stated to police that her uncle (defendant) was very upset when his wife told him not to waste their money on alcohol.

Police questioned the victim and she echoed the statement. Her husband was very upset when she approached him about the money. He yelled profanities at her before he pushed her to the ground and kicked her in her back.

When asked about the alleged incident, the defendant immediately broke down into tears and admitted to assaulting his wife. He told police that he used part of the money to buy beer for himself and his carpenter.

The defendant is charged with 3rd- degree assault, public peace disturbance and private peace disturbance. He was released on his own recognizance subject to several conditions from the court.

He was was ordered not to consume any more alcohol, keep the peace at his homes and find another place to stay while his case is still pending in court. He’s also not to make any direct or indirect contact with his wife and if he sees her in public, he must walk away from her peacefully.

The case for this defendant is now transferred to the FDA court (Family, Drugs & Alcohol).