Man arrested on allegation that he assaulted the two men who stole from him

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for assistance after his house was burglarized by two men was arrested on the allegation that he assaulted the two men that allegedly burglarized his house, and stole his cell phones and his wallet containing $1,300.

On July 27th, 2020 around 8a.m, a male individual who identified himself to police as Willie Alesana, the defendant in this case called TPS and requested police assistance immediately at his house.

Several police officers responded to the call. As police officers approached the area from where the call came, a male individual waved down the police unit. The male identified himself to officers as Alesana.

As officers were speaking to Alesana, a 62-year-old mother came forward and introduced herself to officers and said that Alesana came and assaulted her son while they were at the house.

The woman further stated that Alesana came to their house and asked for her son by name. She said Alesana entered her house without permission and allegedly assaulted her 24-year-old son by punching him in the face multiple times causing swelling and bruises on her son’s facial area.

Alesana was interviewed at the scene where he stated to officers that his house was burglarized in the morning and he was missing two cell phones and his wallet containing $1,300 cash. He further stated that a person named Victor Paea told him that the victim (the male he allegedly assaulted) was the one who burglarized his house.

Officers picked up the person by the name Paea from his house and brought him into the TPS for questioning regarding this matter.  Officers observed that Paea had bruises on his facial area and his left eye was swollen.

Paea told officers that Alesana invited him to his (Alesana) house for a morning coffee. Once he got inside Alesana’s house, Alesana questioned him about his house being burglarized a few hours before. As Paea was trying to explain to Alesana the whole story, Alesana immediately punched him in the face. He tried to stand up but Alesana continued to throw punch after punch to his facial area.

While Alesana was assaulting Paea, Paea shouted that it was Apelu Tasi who stole his two cell phones and his money.

Alesana then dragged him inside his (Alesana) vehicle and they drove to Tasi’s home. Once they arrived at the Tasi’s house, Alesana walked inside uninvited and assaulted Tasi by punching him in the face multiple times.

Investigation into the burglary at Alesana house revealed that Paea and Tasi were involved.

Alesana made his initial appearance in court last week.

He is charged with one count of burglary in the second degree, a felony, along with two counts of 3rd degree assault and private peace disturbance, both misdemeanors.

The burglary charge stems from the time when Alesana entered into the victim’s house without permission, despite the fact he did not steal any property.

Bail is set at $5,000.

During his initial appearance, Alesana waived his rights to a preliminary examination and his case is now before the High Court where he entered a not guilty plea to all the charges against him this past week.

Pretrial conference is Sept. 24th.