Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On August 3, 2024, a female individual contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report a burglary at her home.

Police officers were not able to locate the suspect, however he was later charged with the following charges:

Count 1: Burglary in the Second Degree, a class C felony punishable by imprisonment of not more than seven years, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both;

Count 2: Stealing, a class C felony punishable by imprisonment of not more than seven years, a fine of not more than $5,000 or two times the amount of the defendant’s gain from the commission of the crime, or both; and,

Count 3: Trespass, a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both.

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

According to the affidavit, on August 3rd, at about 10:23 a.m., TPS received a call from a female individual (later identified as the victim) about an unknown person knocking on her door at around 6:00 a.m.

The victim alleged that Ishmael Sefo unlawfully entered her home and allegedly stole her wallet, which contained cash of about $300, an Apple Macbook laptop worth $1,000, four credit cards and her driver’s license.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival met up with the victim who explained what had happened.

The victim claimed that she was asleep around 6:00 a.m when she heard someone knocking on her door and someone calling out her name,  and she realized it was Ishmael Sefo.

The victim stated that she first knew that she had failed to lock the front door to her home, as she walked towards the living room, and noticed her bag was open and her passport was on the couch. She then remembered that the suspect had been calling her name inside her home.

The victim was asked by the officers if she had any relation to the suspect. The victim told officers that the defendant used to come to her home with a friend from church to fix the roof of her home.

As officers conducted their investigation, the victim notified the officers that someone had used one of her credit cards at around 11:10 a.m at a nearby electronic store (IFIX).

Police officers responded to the location and met up with the cashier and she said that a male individual purchased a smartphone worth $190 using a Navy Fed card. The cashier also informed the officers that the card used was declined.

Police officers requested the owner of the store if they could view the store security footage, to which he agreed.

Upon reviewing the footage, officers saw a tall dark skin, heavy set male individual standing in front of the register trying to buy items. The individual was identified by the officers as Ishmael Sefo who was also a suspect in a string of burglaries.

The officers took a photo of the uploaded footage and showed it to the victim to confirm if it was the same individual she had identified as Sefo, which she did.

In the course of the investigation, one of the officers contacted the suspect’s family to ask about the suspect’s whereabouts. A female member of the family who answered the call told the officers that the suspect no longer stayed with them and they did not know his whereabouts.

The affidavit does not state when or if the defendant was apprehended and arrested.

The defendant is identified as a 29 year-old U.S National.