Police break up peace disturbance before it got violent

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On December 21, 2024, traffic officers came upon a disturbance between two male individuals, resulting in one of the men being arrested for disturbing the peace and allegedly assaulting the other man’s sister.

The suspect was apprehended and later charged with:

Count 1: Assault in the Third Degree (DV), a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both; and,

Count 2: Private Peace Disturbance (DV), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $5,000.

According to the court affidavit, on Dec. 21st, at about 9:30 a.m., the officers were conducting a morning routine patrol when they came upon a disturbance that was occurring in front of a store in Fagaalu right at the moment as they were entering into the parking lot.

On the scene, the officers observed two men having a dispute with one another while a female individual was standing in the middle shoving the two men apart. The officers intervened before the disturbance was about to escalate into violence.

With the arrival of police, one of the men, identified as Mercy Nu’uasusala started to walk away. One of the officers stopped him from going any further and interviewed the suspect about the situation.

The suspect verbally stated that the other man who was later identified as Afalupetoa Tafaoga wanted to fight him. The officers asked Tafaoga to step out of the store to be interviewed so he could tell his side of the story about the situation.

Upon interviewing Tafaoga, he verbally stated that the suspect had been abusing his sister, who was the female identified as the victim. According to Tafaoga, he saw his sister’s (victim) injuries on her left eye and bruises on the left side of her chest and arm. He confronted the suspect and asked why he hurt his sister. The suspect refused to answer him so he asked him to step outside to fight.

The officers asked the victim to remove her sunglasses, and the officers observed that the victim had a black left eye and her eye was red as if it was bleeding. At that point, the suspect was apprehended and arrested.

The suspect was placed inside the police unit and transported to the TPS for further investigation. The officers also requested for the victim to come into the TPS to make a statement regarding the assault.

Upon arrival at the station, EMS was notified to treat the victim. She was also interviewed and she stated that on Dec. 19th, the suspect assaulted her because she blocked him from her social media accounts and her phone. The victim also stated that every time the suspect is drunk they would constantly argue and he was always accusing her of cheating.

On that same night, the suspect confronted her and asked why she blocked him. He then became violent and he punched her eye and in the chest area. EMS arrived later and treated the victim and at the same time the victim’s father arrived at the station.

The suspect was Mirandized but refused to make a statement. He was booked and escorted to the Tafuna Correctional Facility to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

The defendant is identified as a 26-year-old citizen of Samoa.