Charges filed after tensions go up in land dispute

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On July 14, 2025, a woman called the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) claiming that she and her son had been threatened and assaulted by members of the Fruean family, in a land dispute incident.

Two men were eventually charged in the incident.

Sema Fruean has been charged with the following:

Public Peace Disturbance (PPD) - a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for six months, a fine of $500, or both — when he punched one of the victim’s in the face causing her to fall, then went to grab a handgun and fired multiple rounds in the air, while threatening to kill her and burn down her house;

Two counts of Assault in the Third Degree - a class A misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both — one for when he punched one of the victims in the face causing her to fall down, and the second for when he utilized a handgun, fired multiple rounds into the air, and threatened to kill her and burn down her house; and,

Unlawful Discharge of Arms - Assault in the Third Degree - a class C misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 days, a fine of $300, or both, when he discharged a handgun several times by firing into the air.

His bail was set at $5,000 — a warrant for his arrest and order to appear was issued.

The second defendant is Manaia Fruean, who has been charged with PPD — a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for six months, a fine of $500, or both for when he threatened one of the victims by saying he would get his gun to shoot and kill her and her family, and would burn their home.

No bail was set for Manaia. His affidavit does not include a warrant for his arrest, only a Criminal Summons to appear on September 12, 2025 in the District Court.

AFFIDAVITS

Separate affidavits were filled in support of the criminal complaint against each defendant, however they are identical in their “Support of Criminal Complaint” — differing only in charges brought against each man. Samoa News is reporting the incident as explained and described in both affidavits.

According to the court affidavits that were filed in District Court, in the morning, on August 4, 2025 — at approximately 8:50 a.m., on July 14, 2025, Mrs. Aloma Siataga (victim #1) called the FPS and reported that she and her son (victim #2) were allegedly assaulted by Sema Fruean (suspect #1) and several unidentified men employed by the Nana’s Construction Company near her residence, after a land dispute matter with Mrs. Fiapaipai Fruean (suspect #2).

Five police officers responded to the call immediately, and upon arrival at the scene, they met with victim #1, who briefly detailed the events that had taken place.

Victim #1 stated that “the old lady, Fiapaipai Fruean, instigated the incident. She claimed that suspect #2 approached her out of nowhere and confronted her to get off  the section of the family land they were cleaning. She replied “no” to Mrs. Fuean and told her that they were cleaning their land as usual, as they had for the last 40-plus years.

In reply, Mrs. Fruean shouted profanities in Samoan at her and demanded that she get off the land. Her son, Manaia Fruean (suspect #3), came to the aid of his mother and threatened Mrs. Siataga, saying that he was going to get his gun and shoot and kill her family and then burn their house. Mrs. Siataga stated that she stood up to Manaia and told him to “go get your gun and see if you can shoot me!” She said Manaia then left, but was later seen returning to the scene.

Mrs. Siataga explained that suspect #1, Sema, next showed up on the scene driving a flatbed truck full of construction workers. He started yelling threatening remarks at her, coming right up in her face, saying that he was going to shoot her and kill her family.

Mrs. Siataga said she was suddenly punched in her face, by Sema, and she fell backwards. At that time, her son, Malaki Onosa’i (victim #2) intervened, but he was immediately assaulted by multiple construction workers who had come on the truck with Sema.

Victim #2 suffered a laceration, which later needed to be stitched at the hospital.

He was briefly interviewed at the FPS and provided a written statement. Malaki confirmed his mother’s account of the incident, adding that Mrs. Fruean said that they had already called for a bulldozer to be on its way to the disputed land — to clear the land and remove any properties belonging to his mother, Mrs. Siataga.

Malaki also stated that he saw a truck pull up at the scene and park in the middle of the road, which was driven by suspect #3, Manaia Fruean. He said Manaia confronted his mom aggressively, and threatened to shoot her and burn down “all of your houses.”

It was then that he saw Sema arrive on the scene, driving a flatbed. He exited the flatbed and walked towards his mother (Mrs Siataga) and punched her in the face. She fell to the ground.

Victim #2 continued that he rushed over to protect his mother when all of a sudden he saw multiple construction workers grab him back and put him in a chokehold position. He stated that while he was being held back, he was punched numerous times in his face from different directions.

Malaki stated that he was also struck in the forehead with a metal bar, which left an open laceration on his forehead, causing him to bleed. However, he was unable to identify who assaulted him with the metal bar because he was unconscious after being hit.

Victim #2 was later transported to the LBJ Hospital for further medical treatment.

Witnesses also came forward and provided statements regarding the incident.

According to witness #1, he was driving his bus, and as he was passing Mrs. Fruean’s residence, he immediately stopped due to a crowd of Nana’s company workers blocking the road. When he looked out to his right, outside the door of his bus, he saw Sema, who was approximately five feet away from his bus, holding a black handgun, and whereupon he fired it up into the air twice.

The bus driver said that after Sema fired the weapon, he yelled at the construction workers, to “go back down”, demanding that they return to Tuaolo’s residence. (Mrs. Fruean is the wife of the President of the Senate Tuaolo Manaia Fruean.)

Witness #1 continued that as soon as the traffic was cleared, he drove up the road to make a U-turn by Mrs. Siataga’s house, “when all of a sudden, [he] heard another gunshot coming from suspect #1’s location.”

A second witness was interviewed at the scene and also provided a written statement at FPS.

He said that he was present at the scene of the crime and observed the dispute between Mrs. Fruean and Mrs. Siataga. He confirmed Mrs. Fruean’s yelling profanities in Samoan at Mrs. Siataga and threatening to clear the disputed land with a bulldozer. He further saw Sema arrive on the scene in a flatbed truck full of construction workers and approach Mrs. Siataga immediately, striking her in the face with a closed fist, where she fell to the ground.

Witness #2 stated that he also saw Sema walk towards their truck, where he opened the front door and pulled out a black handgun. Sema pointed the handgun up and fired twice in the air while yelling at Mrs. Siataga, telling her that “I’m going to kill you and burn your house down.”

Sema then returned to the truck, where he reversed it and unexpectedly put his hand out, while holding the handgun and fired multiple rounds in the air.

Another witness spoke of the incident in terms of seeing a little girl approximately 8- 10 feet away from the location of the incident who she then rushed down the hill being afraid for the little girl’s safety. It was while she was leaving the scene with the child that she heard two loud gunshots, which made her turn around and that’s when she saw Sema holding a handgun.

She said she was yelled at by an unknown person to call the police, but she told them she didn’t have a phone, nor knew the number of the FPS. She said she was traumatized by the gunshots and kept crying as she feared for her life.

Two other witnesses came forward and corroborated the other witnesses accounts of the sequence of events on the day of the incident.

Authorities later met with Mrs. Fruean near her residence, where she briefly informed the officers regarding the accusations by the victims. She denied all the allegations and told the responding officer that her son (suspect #1) never fired a gun and claimed that it was just the sound of kids' water guns that had been mistakenly heard as a real gun.

Mrs. Fruean also denied that the injuries sustained by the victims were a result of the assault by her son, Sema. She claimed that the victims’ injuries were just a result of them falling down during the commotion over the land dispute.

An attempt to interview Sema and Manaia was unsuccessful, as both suspects had fled the scene and their whereabouts were unknown.

When Mrs. Fruean was asked about the whereabouts of her sons, she stated that she had no idea.

On July 19, both men (Mrs. Fruean’s sons) walked into the FPS and were processed separately.

Sema was Mirandized, to which he understood and provided a statement.

He denied assaulting Malaki and also firing a handgun at the scene despite being informed of the bullet casings recovered from the scene.

However, he claimed that during the verbal altercation between his mother and Mrs. Siataga, he pushed her backwards as she was swinging a weed-eater at him during the altercation. He said he then escorted his mother home and left the scene to attend a meeting at the LBJ Hospital.

Sema was later advised by police to turn in the weapon involved in this matter.

Manaia was also Mirandized and agreed to make a statement.

He also denied any wrongdoing during the whole ordeal, but wished to file a complaint against Mrs. Siataga and her family for threatening his mother “over the years until the day of the recent incident.”

An empty 9mm Luger casing and one 9mm Luger live round were recovered at the scene during the crime scene search and examination.

The affidavits do not provide any further information on whether either defendant was arrested and confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility after they turned themselves in to the police.