Traffic stop and subsequent drug charge net man wanted on assault warrant

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Andrew Reupena, the driver of a pick-up truck pulled over by police last month for a traffic violation is also facing assault charges from a case last year where he allegedly assaulted a man after he asked him for money to buy beer.

Reupena made his initial appearance in Court last month and the government filed two separate criminal cases against him.

In the first case, Reupena is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, punishable by a imprisonment terms of not less than five nor more than ten years, a fine of up to $20,000 or both.

Bail for this case is set at $5,000

For the second case, the defendant is charged with one count of 2nd- degree assault and one count of 1st- degree property damage, both class D felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail for this case is set at $15,000.

Preliminary examination is set for next week and the defendant is remanded back to custody until he posts the bonds.

THE DRUG CASE

On May 21, 2022, early morning, Vice and Narcotics Unit (VNU) were informed of a stop by traffic officers where illegal drugs were discovered on the driver.

The driver of the vehicle, who was later identified as Andrew Reupena, was also found to have an active warrant for his arrest on assault charges from six months ago.

Traffic officers told VNU that they made the stop while patrolling the Malaeimi area heading west, when they saw a black pick-up truck heading east with a broken headlamp and a broken license plate light.

The vehicle’s driver was identified as Reupena, the defendant in this case, and a male passenger was also present. The passenger was later released to go home after he was searched and interviewed by investigators,

Officers found that the driver did not have a driver’s license or any form of identification to identify himself.

Reupena and the passenger were instructed by officers to exit the vehicle immediately but Reupena refused at first, telling officers that he needed to go home to prepare his sick daughter’s breakfast.

As they spoke, Reupena started his vehicle engine and was about to drive off but he after being instructed by officers to turn off his vehicle engine and step outside of the vehicle, he complied.

As Reupena exited the vehicle, one officer observed what appeared to be a glass pipe containing a usable amount of a crystalline substance on the dashboard, along with a stamp-sized baggie containing a green leafy substance lying on the floor under the passenger’s seat.

Officers also discovered under the passenger’s seat a cut up straw containing a crystalline substance wrapped inside a white rag next to the baggie containing green leafy substance.

Officers immediately detained Reupena and the passenger for safety reasons and placed them inside a police unit.

Before Reupena and the male occupant were placed inside the police unit, they were both patted down and nothing was found in the male’s possession, however, officers discovered on Reupena a small stamp-sized baggie containing a green leafy substance inside his rear pocket, and a  cut up straw containing a white crystalline substance inside his front pocket.

The body search on Reupena further yielded a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance inside his t-shirt pocket, along with $495 in cash.

Both Reupena and the male passenger were transported to the TPS for further investigation and his vehicle was also impounded.

Upon arrival at the TPS, the discovered items were referred to the VNU for further investigation. On the same date, a detective of the VNU tested the white crystalline substance and it yielded a positive result for meth, while the green leafy substance tested positive for THC, the active compound in marijuana.

Investigators Mirandized Reupena and he later waived his rights and agreed to cooperate with investigators about the matter.

According to his verbal statement to investigators, Reupena told investigators that it was when he was stopped that the passenger, who had asked for a ride home to Pava’i’ai, gave him the stuff to hide.

When questioned about the reason why he attempted to flee after he was instructed by police officers to exit his vehicle, Reupena said he didn’t want to get into trouble. He explained that there was an incident he was involved with last year and he knew police were looking for him.

The passenger during his interview with investigators, said that all the illegal substances found inside the vehicle belonged to Reupena. He said he and Reupena are relatives and they went to Tafuna to pick up drugs from another man. On their way back home, two police officers pulled over their vehicle for a traffic violation.

THE ASSAULT CASE

According to the government’s case, it was on the evening of Jan. 11, 2022 when a woman contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) reporting that a man by the name of Andrew Reupena was making unreasonable noises around their residence. The caller further stated to police that Reupena was walking around the area with a knife in his hand and calling out to a man by the name of Steve to come and fight him.

Responding to the call, police were approached by a woman (not the caller) requesting assistance, saying Reupena assaulted her son who was at their house.

Several police officers followed the woman to her house and saw a man (later identified as the victim) lying inside the living room with blood on his body. Officers observed a laceration on the man’s head that was about 3 inches in length. EMS was contacted right away and arrived on the scene minutes later.

The victim was transported to the LBJ Medical Hospital by an EMS crew for further treatment.

When questioned by police after he was treated at the LBJ hospital, the victim stated that he was drinking alcohol outside of his house around 7pm that evening when Reupena approached him and asked for a $20 to buy beer but he told him he don’t have any money. Reupena left.

However later, the victim was shocked when someone punched him from behind causing him to fall on the ground. He looked up and saw Reupena standing on top of him with a rock in his right hand. He begged Reupena to stop but Reupena continued to kick his back and throw punches at his face.

Reupena walked away and grabbed a machete from behind a vehicle parked outside the victim’s house and walked back to the area where the victim was lying. That’s when the victim stood up and ran for his life, while Reupena called out to him to come back.

The defendant then turned around and smashed the back window of the victim’s vehicle parked outside of his house with the rock in his hand causing damage to the vehicle.

He yelled out profanities and called out the victim’s name asking him to come fight him like a man.

Several eye witnesses who were questioned by police shared the same stories of what happened that night.

After questioning everyone involved in this case, police searched for the defendant however, he was nowhere to be found.