Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On April 19, 2025, a concerned citizen observed a vehicle that crashed into the ocean and immediately called the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) to report the incident.

The driver was later found, apprehended and charged with:

Count 1: Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Other Drugs, a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both imprisonment and fine; and,

Count 2: Reckless Driving With Injuries, a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

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

According to the court affidavit, on Apr. 19th, at about 10:34 p.m., a woman (later identified as the reporter) called the FPS to report a motor vehicle that got into an accident in the village of Avaio.

The reporter stated that the vehicle was inside the ocean and two people were observed exiting the vehicle while in the ocean. She claimed that the two individuals were running or fleeing from the scene.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival at the scene, they quickly went into the ocean to check if there was anyone left inside the vehicle.

No one was observed to be in the vehicle, and all air bags were observed deplored, with all the windows up. With the sea at high tide, the interior of the vehicle was filled with seawater. Further observation noted that the front of the vehicle appeared to be completely damaged with fluids from the engine floating on top of the ocean surface. The front windshield was mostly cracked, and the vehicle was held back from drifting out to the open sea by a rock underneath the front passenger tire.

The responding officers requested through the police headquarters to run the information of the vehicle and contact the owner to inform him of the situation involving the vehicle.

According to police headquarters, the owner stated that his son Toriano Silva was the driver of the vehicle. The owner further stated that Silva was asleep in front of their residence and he didn’t know how he got back home but he was really drunk.

The officers proceeded to the owner’s residence and located the suspect. When the officers found the suspect, he was not able to walk straight due to an open wound on his right shin. The officers also detected a strong scent of alcoholic beverages emitting from the suspect.

The suspect was asked if he needed medical attention but he refused.

Toriano was then asked if he was the driver of the abandoned vehicle found in a runoff in Avaio and he replied “yes”.

He was further asked if he had consumed any alcoholic beverages before he operated the vehicle and after the vehicle got into an accident. He replied “that after the accident, he did not consume any alcoholic beverages, just before.”

The suspect admitted that he drank about 9 cans of an alcoholic beverage.

He was then questioned about the whereabouts of his passenger and the suspect claimed that when they fled, they went their separate ways. He stated that his passenger’s name is Alex.

The suspect was detained and transported to the Faga’itua Police Substation for the Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST) to be conducted.

At around 11:40 P.M., the test was conducted and he failed the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus. The suspect also agreed to perform the walk and turn, along with the one leg stand but was unable to do so due to his injury.

The tests ended at 11:47 p.m., and the suspect was verbally notified that he was under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The suspect was Mirandized to which he understood and submitted to a chemical test of his breath which resulted in a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.161.

Silva was questioned during the investigation as to why he took the vehicle knowing he was under the influence of alcohol and he stated, “I wanted to take my life. I wanted to die, so I decided to take the vehicle and I was set to drive the vehicle straight into the ocean hoping that I would die”.

The suspect further stated that “he knew that his conduct would cost his life and the life of his passenger.”

He admitted that this is not the first time he got into an accident, all because of his suicidal thoughts — wanting to take his own life for being a burden to his parents.

Silva explained that he stole the vehicle during the first incident for the same reason.

In this second incident, he stole the vehicle again just so he could succeed and satisfy himself. Alex, whose last name could not be identified, couldn’t be located.

According to the villagers, Alex does not stay in Avaio anymore.

The suspect was booked and transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

The defendant is identified as a 22-year-old U.S citizen.