Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting his girlfriend and threatening to kill her was arrested and charged. John Vaivao, is charged with one count of 2nd-degree assault involving domestic violence and felonious restraint involving domestic violence, both class D felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, along with one count of 3rd degree assault and private peace disturbance, both class A misdemeanors.

Vaivao, appeared in District Court last month for his initial appearance and was held in custody on a $10,000 bond.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of Aug. 28, 2022, when police at the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) received a phone call from a man requesting police assistance after a man beat up his girlfriend inside their house.

According to the caller, the defendant and his girlfriend were inside their house where they started to have a verbal disagreement regarding their relationship.The verbal argument led to the defendant slapping the victim, punching her and threatening her — saying that if she tells the police about what had occurred he would kill her.

The investigation disclosed that there was a separate assault incident that occurred on Aug. 26, two days prior to the incident on Aug. 28, which involved the defendant using a hard object to hit the victim. The victim told investigators that the defendant would threaten her on a daily basis.

The victim further told police that the defendant threatened to kill her or her family if she leaves him, and he would force her to have sexual intercourse him, even though she did not agree to it.

ANOTHER DOMESTIC INCIDENT

A man accused of assaulting his wife by punching her in the face then grabbing a machete and threatening to kill her in front of their two children is now in custody after he was arrested.

The defendant appeared in High Court last week for arraignment where he entered a not guilty plea to all charges against him and his pretrial conference is scheduled for November 2022.

Bail is set at $20,000.

The assault incident — domestic violence — was reported to police on the night of Aug. 13, 2022 around 11 p.m by the father of the victim. Several police immediately responded to the call. The assault happened at the couple’s residence.

The alleged assault  caused the victim to have swelling and bruising in the right eye, and on the top left side of the forehead; swelling and bruising on the arms; red marks on the left side of the neck; swelling on the right side of her neck; and red marks on the left shoulder.

Upon arrival at the house, cops met up with a woman who later identified herself as the victim in this case. She stated that her husband had beat her the previous night, and she was also beaten up on the previous Sunday. She stated to officers that her husband came home late and was also very intoxicated and a verbal argument ensued followed by the alleged beatings.

With permission from the woman, officers entered the house to locate the defendant, while other officers were securing around the house to prevent the defendant from escaping. Officers apprehended the defendant and placed him inside the police unit and later transported to the LPS for further investigation.

The victim and her two sons were also escorted to the LPS for questioning.

The victim’s 8-year-old son told investigators what he witnessed when his father assaulted his mother, including his dad grabbing a machete and attempting to hit his mom with it.

The 17-year-old son told investigators this is not the first time his dad has assaulted his mom.

The defendant was Mirandized and he said he understood and agreed to make a verbal statement and answer questions.

The defendant verbally stated that he did not assault his wife.

He alleged that his wife is a jealous person and suspected him of having an affair with his wife’s cousin, which caused a verbal argument.

The defendant stated he got mad and all of a sudden she bumped him and that is when they fell on the ground. He also stated that his wife got the black eye from when they fell on the ground. He said he fell on top of her and that is when his hand hit her hands that were covering her face, and hit her in the eye.

That was the only information the defendant provided to investigators about his recollection of what allegedly happened.

He was later transported to the TCF to be confined to await his court appearance.