Brawl at Fagatogo Pavilion leads to multiple arrests

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On October 31, 2024, police officers at the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) witnessed a brawl at the Fagatogo Pavilion.

Three suspects were arrested and charged.

Filipo Neueli was charged with: Count 1: Assault in the Second Degree, a class D felony punishable by a term imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000.00, or both.

Filipo Neuli’s bail was set at $30,000.00.

Levy Wright was charged with Count 1: Assault in the Third Degree ( As a C Misd.), punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300.00, or both; and,  Count 2: Assault in the Third Degree ( As a A Misd.), punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000.00, or both.

Levy Wright’s bail was set at $3,000.00.

Levaula Wright was charged with Count 1: Assault in the Third Degree ( As a A Misd.), punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000.00, or both.

Levaula Wright’s bail was set at $1,000.00.

According to the affidavit, on October 31st, at about 5:30 p.m., police officers witnessed a disturbance in front of the Pavilion at Fagatogo. The officers responded and upon arrival they met with the victim (hereinafter Victim #1) who briefed the officers about the incident .

Victim #1 had a swollen eye and he was a bit disoriented because of his injuries. The victim’s sons (hereinafter Victim #2 & Victim #3) were angry because of Victim #1’s injuries and they were trying to call out the person who assaulted their father.

Throughout the chaos, the officers tried to de-escalate the situation until backup assistance arrived.

The officers directed the victims and escorted them to the FPS where they pointed out Levaula Wright, one of the suspects who was playing rugby on the Fagatogo malae. The victims claimed that he was the one who instigated the disturbance. The officers directed Levaula to the FPS. Upon arrival at the station, the officers placed the suspect #1 in a room, to separate him from the victims.

The officers took pictures of the victims’ injuries. Victim #1’s left eye was bleeding with scratches on his left knee, left elbow, and left ankle; Victim #2 (a minor) had bruising on the back of his neck and shoulder area, a cracked fingernail and scratches on his left arm; and Victim #3 had scratches on the left side of his jaw and on his left arm.

The affidavit also stated that the investigation revealed that Xavier Wright assaulted Victim #3 with a flask on Oct. 31, 2024 in front of the Fagatogo Pavilion.

The incident allegedly started when Xavier did not like how Victim #3 responded to him at the Maoli’s concert held on Oct. 30, 2024 at the Tafuna Veterans Memorial Stadium.

After being allegedly being assaulted by Xavier, Victim #3 went home and told his father (Victim #1) about the incident. As a result, Victim #1 made his way down to the Fagatogo Pavilion with his sons to solve the problem.

Victim #1 found Xavier near the Pavilion — he was holding a metal softball bat and was accompanied by two unknown female individuals. As the victims approached Xavier, he was hitting the ground with the bat and he told the victims to stop. Victim #1 told Xavier to drop the bat and he did.

Victim #1 then explained to Xavier that his kids were born and raised in the village and that he did not understand why they were fighting.

Xavier apologized to Victim #1, but out of nowhere, Levaula Wright kicked Victim #3 in his ribs, on the left side. Victim #1 tried to protect his younger son (Victim #2) because a lot of unknown individuals started assaulting them.

After further investigation, police officers found footage of the disturbance.

It showed while victim #1 was protecting Victim #2, an unknown male individual (later identified as Levy Wright tried to punch Victim #2 (minor), but Victim #1 intervened. Simultaneously, an unknown male individual later identified a Filipo Neueli hit the minor (Victim #2) with the metal bat on the back of his neck. Levy then punched Victim #1 which caused both Victim #1 and Victim #2 (his minor son) to fall to the ground. As Victim #1 stood up and covered the minor, Levy punched him again in his left eye and then walked off.

An unknown male tried to assist Victim #1, but an unknown female (later identified, but not charged) assaulted the minor by kicking the back of his head, slapping his face and pulling his hair. Moreover, an unknown male (later identified, but not charged) hit the minor’s back with the bat. Meanwhile, Victim #3 was also assaulted by an unknown male with a bat.

Victim #1 verbally explained the incident, which included the apology by Xavier and the assault by Levaula of his son. He also stated he couldn’t identify who punched him in his left eye.

According to Victim #3, on October 30th, at the Maoli concert, Xavier called him out by calling him names, and told him that he was going to beat him up. On the following day, when he was playing volleyball at the Pavilion, Xavier assaulted him with a flask bottle. He then went and told his father about what had happened. His father went with him to tell Xavier that he was from the village and Xavier stated that he (Victim #3) was to be blamed for what happened.

He explained “that is when Levaula kicked him in his left side.” Victim #3 added that during the disturbance, an unknown male that looked like Levy Wright punched his father’s left eye.

After interviewing the victims, the officers Mirandized Levaula Wright and he agreed to make a statement.

According to Levaula’s written statement, he was playing rugby when he saw two men walking towards his brother. He assumed something was going on and he rushed to see what was happening. He then heard them discussing something that happened between the victims and Xavier. He noted that he saw his brother apologizing to Victim #1 but Victim #3 kept “blabbering”.

Levaula said that’s when the fight broke out and people started throwing hands and he joined them until it stopped.

He was booked at the FPS and later transported to the Tafuna Correctional facility (TCF) to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

Levy was also Mirandized and also agreed to make a statement.

According to Levy’s written statement, he was playing rugby and he saw his little brothers and the victims having a dispute. He then ran over and started fighting.

He stated that Victim #3 tried to punch him but missed. He then joined the fight but claimed that he was not the only one as a lot of people had jumped in. He also stated he did not use a bat or a stick to hit Victim #1.

Levy was also booked at the FPS and later transported to TCF to be confined to await the next sitting of the District Court.

A warrant for Filipo Neuili’s arrest was signed and issued on Nov. 5, 2024 and as noted he is being charged with Assault in the Second Degree, with bail set at $30,000. However, the affidavit does not include a statement from him, but it alleges that he used a metal bat to assault one of Victim #1’s sons during the brawl. There is also no mention of his being arrested or Mirandized at the same time as Levy and Levaula.

The three suspects are identified as US Nationals.

It should also be noted that there are two other suspects involved in the case — two female individuals. While their names are given in the affidavit, Samoa News has not identified the two as they seem not to have been arrested or charged, nor did they give statements.