Another family feud leads to drug arrest

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who allegedly assaulted his nephew has been arrested and charged. During his arrest, cops discovered two small baggies containing marijuana inside his pocket. Malae Talifau made his initial appearance in Court last month.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, an unclassified felony, along with one count of abuse of a child, a class D felony; along with one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of 3rd- degree assault, both class A misdemeanors.

Bail is set at $15,000.

THE CASE

On the afternoon of July 14, 2022, the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) received a call from a 17-year-old male stating that he had been physically assaulted by his uncle Malae Talifau, the defendant in this matter. Several police officers responded to the call and met with the young male who reported the matter.

Police arrived at the area and started to gather information about what actually happened, interviewing those involved in this matter, including the victim, his father and a neighbor.

According to the victim’s statement to police, his uncle (defendant) started yelling and swearing while tossing food and glass plates inside the kitchen after the uncle was unsatisfied with the food the victim’s father had made.

The victim said that his uncle (defendant) then approached him and started to verbally and physically assault him by punching his face with his fists and pushing him. The victim blocked some of the punches by using his hands to cover his face.

The defendant then went into his room to grab a wooden baseball bat and verbally threatened to kill the victim using the bat. The victim then ran outside the house and saw the defendant walking towards the public road stating that when he returned he was going to kill his nephew (victim).

 The victim was asked several times by investigators if he needed medical assistance but he refused. The investigators were told that the uncle had left the house a few minutes before they had arrived on the scene and was heading towards the public road.

Officers then proceed to locate the uncle, and found him sitting at a bus stop in the area. He was placed in cuffs one hour after the incident and was transported to the TPS for further investigation.

Before the defendant was transported to the TPS for questioning, he was patted down for weapons or contraband. During a body search, cops discovered two small stamp-sized baggies containing green leafy substance inside his pocket. The green leafy substance later tested positive for THC/ marijuana.

The defendant was Mirandized and agreed to make a statement. According to his statement, he admits that he assaulted his nephew out of anger. He further admits that the marijuana belonged to him.