Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On July 5, 2025, a victim of a domestic dispute called the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) seeking assistance regarding her husband who allegedly assaulted her, her daughter and her daughter-in-law.

The suspect was later arrested and charged with:

Count 1 & 2: Assault in the Third Degree (DV), a class A misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both imprisonment and fine;

Count 3: Private Peace Disturbance (DV), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of not more than $500, or both; and,

Count 4: Endangering the Welfare of a Child (DV), a class A misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $5,000.

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

According to the court affidavit, on July 5th, a woman (the suspect’s wife/ victim #2) called the TPS requesting immediate assistance from the police for an alleged assault.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival at the scene, they met with victim #1 (suspect’s daughter-in-law) and her kids, who were inside their neighbor’s home. They were hiding from the suspect. Victim #2 (suspect’s wife} and victim #3 (suspect’s daughter) stood outside in fear while waiting for the police. The suspect was alone inside their home.

The officers interviewed victim #1 and #2 about the said incident.

According to victim #1’s statement, “anger was the reason for the dispute”. She explained that she is the daughter-in-law of the suspect and she was asked by the suspect about a bag and some of his belongings. She told the suspect to check again if it was there. However, the suspect responded angrily and blamed her kids for touching his bag.

She continued that victim #2 informed the suspect that she found the bag where it was. And with the bag found, she (victim #1) walked in front to where she sleeps with her kids and told the suspect that he wasn’t looking properly.

In turn, the suspect called out her name in a loud manner about three times but she never answered him. The suspect then walked over to her and called her name out again and asked her why she never answered.

She explained that the suspect’s wife (victim #2) grabbed her husband’s shirt collar to hold him back; however, the suspect punched her while victim #2 was still holding on to her husband’s shirt in an effort to defend victim #1.

Victim #3 (suspect’s daughter) then arrived and called out to her father to leave her mom alone, whereas the suspect got mad even more and tried to remove victim #2 from him.

The suspect then hit his daughter (victim #3) while she was carrying a baby.

Victim #1 continued to explain that she ran over to take her daughter (the baby) from victim #3 and victim #3 ran back to defend her mother from her father but she was assaulted with a broom by him.

At this time, she picked up the phone and was going to call the police but victim #2 told her to take the kids outside to protect them. Victim #2 called the police.

Victim #1 also emphasized that this is not the first time this had happened when the suspect got mad, adding that when he gets mad at her, he beats up her husband (suspect’s son) and she has witnessed how bad the suspect beats up his children.

Victim #2 was also interviewed and she corroborated victim #1’s statement that “it was anger that heated the incident”. She stated that the suspect is a good father but he cannot manage his anger. Most times, he would raise his voice and always thinks that he is right and just.

She further stated that her husband was mad because he was calling his daughter-in-law but she never answered. As a result he walked over to victim #1 wanting to put his hands on her, but she intervened for the safety of her grandchildren.

She explained that she couldn’t stop the suspect so she yanked his right arm but it caused her to fall to the ground. She also mentioned that the suspect has warned them several times that “there will be a time that he will beat them up and he’ll be taken to jail”.

Victim #2 added that the suspect would beat up victim #1 and their youngest child. She also stated that the suspect accused her of spoiling their kids and she lives in fear of his abuse, physically and emotionally.

She said she also feared for what will happen, as the suspect yelled out during his arrest that when he gets released, she, and her daughter-in-law, and her grandchildren should be out of his house.

Victim #3 was interviewed and she stated that her father (suspect) chose violence to deal with her sister-in-law and her mother.

She explained that she heard a lot of arguing, so she went to see while she was carrying the 6-month-old baby and saw that her mom was trying to stop her father by grabbing his shirt. She continued that he was out of control and blamed her mom for all the nonsense. Her father threatened to hurt her mom and she couldn’t stand it anymore.

Victim #3 claimed that her father hurt her mom and that’s when she pushed him and told her mother to leave.

She further stated that she, her mother and father struggled for about 40 seconds which ended up with her mother falling. The suspect then turned to her and started hitting her with a broom. She passed the baby off and started to defend herself while the suspect was looking for something harder with which to beat her. At that time, she took the chance to leave the house.

The suspect was confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility for 48 hours to await his appearance in the District Court.