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Man arrested after he allegedly assualts neighbor woman who was holding her young child

ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man from Malaeimi was arrested last month accused of attempting to assault a woman who is his neighbor — while she was holding her 2-year-old daughter

According to the government’s case, it was on Apr. 12, around 6:47 p.m when the TPS received a call regarding a peace disturbance (PPD) in the Malaeimi area when a man allegedly assaulted a woman.

Cops responded to the call and upon arrival at the scene they found a male standing at the side of his house. The man was later identified as, Faletolu Tomasi, the defendant.

As investigators started to speak to the defendant, a woman walked out of the house and told police that she was the one who reported the incident.

According to the woman, who lives next to Tomasi’s house, the confrontation started when Tolu (Faletolu Tomasi) stole her husband’s tool box and safety equipment from their home. She said she spoke to him about how disrespectful his actions were, and that's when the defendant allegedly threw an un-opened soda can at her while she was holding her daughter and he hit her on her right shoulder.

The defendant then walked up to the victim and tried to take away her daughter from her so that he could assault her but the victim held on to her daughter tightly and at the same time tried to walk away from the defendant.

The defendant was heavily intoxicated at the time of alleged assault.

The victim claims that the defendant reached out to her hair and pulled it, he then punched her on her back twice. The victim told police she was afraid and concerned for the safety of her daughter because the defendant was drunk and acting strange.

Officers approached the defendant at his house and asked him to come to the TPS for questioning but the defendant refused. He told officers the victim was at fault for accusing him of stealing stuff from her home, which he did not.

During the conversation with the defendant, officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol from the defendant’s breath and clothes.

The defendant was apprehended at his house and transported to the TPS for questioning. Before he was transported to the police station, he was patted down for weapons or contraband.

During a body search, police officers discovered a hard object inside the right pocket of the defendant’s pants. When asked about the hard object, the defendant smiled and replied, “it’s a pipe to smoke meth”.

The white crystalline substance found inside the pipe was tested and turned out positive for meth.

The defendant was Mirandized where he stated that he understood and agreed to speak about the alleged incident.

According to the defendant, he was drinking at the back of his house when the woman who lives next door approached him and accused him of stealing from her house. The woman also accused him of selling drugs in their neighborhood which he said he didn’t.

He admits that he threw an open soda can at the woman and hit her shoulder. He also admitted pushing the woman, pulling her hair and punching her on her back and shoulder while she was holding her infant child.

The defendant also admits that he bought a baggie of meth from a friend and he put meth inside the glass pipe.

Tomasi made his initial appearance in court last month. He is charged with unlawful possession of meth, a felony, along with third-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child, PPD and being armed with a dangerous weapon, all class A misdemeanors.

Bail is set at $10,000.