Two men arrested over land dispute in Sogi

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On September 20, 2025, a woman contacted the Leone Police Substation (LPS) and reported two men who were allegedly fighting over land.

Both suspects were arrested and later charged as follows:

Fa'atulu Samana was charged with:

Count 1: Possession of Unlicensed Arms, a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine not to exceed $1,000, or both imprisonment and fine;

Count 2: Assault in the Third Degree (A Class C. Misd.), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300, or both; and,

Count 3: Private Peace Disturbance, a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300, or both.

Bail was set at $200.

Lui Talalima was charged with:

Count 1: Assault in the Third Degree (A Class C. Misd.), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300, or both; and,

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

Talalima's bail was set at $500.

According to the court affidavit, on Sept. 20th, at about 9:16 a.m., a man called the LPS about a disturbance between Fa'atulu Samana (suspect #1) and Lui Talalima (suspect #2) at Sogi, Leone. The reporter alleged that a gun was involved as well.

Police officers were dispatched to the call, and upon arrival at the scene, a lady (later identified as the reporter) was waiting for them. She was asked about the situation, and she explained that Talalima came to clean his land and plantation, and she saw him telling other men on his land to leave.

Not long after, she saw another individual's car pull up. The reporter said she doesn't know why Samana was interfering with Talalima's land.

According to Talalima, he was preparing to go to church, but he had a hunch that there might be people on his land in Sogi. So instead of going to church, he drove to Sogi.

When he got there, he saw a few farmers cleaning and planting banana trees on his land. He waved them down and told them to stop. He then called Samana, who showed up on his ATV a few minutes later.

When Samana arrived, they started arguing about the land, and the dispute escalated, and he spilled his coffee on Samana. They began hurling punches at each other, and while doing so, he saw Samana reach into the glove compartment [of his ATV] for his gun and pointed it at him.

He immediately tried to get the gun from Samana's hand while yelling out multiple times. Talalima stated that the only thing he thought about was that Samana was going to start shooting at them if he didn't get the gun away from him.

Meanwhile, a bystander who was nearby ran to them and got the gun out of Samana's hand while Samana was held back by others who came to help separate them. When the weapon was seized and secured, his aunt called the police regarding the said matter while Samana left the scene.

Talalima added that this wasn't the first time Samana had come to him about his land, even though he already had his piece on the other side of Leone.

Furthermore, while retrieving the gun from the bystander, a big truck sped up to the place, and Samana quickly rushed towards Talalima and his aunt — he was stopped by the police. One of the responding officers asked Samana to head down to the LPS so they could talk.

Before leaving the scene, the officers confiscated the gun. One of the officers checked the weapon, and it was found to be unloaded. The gun was a 9mm Glock.

Upon arriving at the LPS, the officers continued investigating the matter, and EMS was also contacted to check over both men.

Samana was Mirandized, and he agreed to provide a statement regarding the matter.

According to Samana, he was infuriated with Talalima bothering his workers while they were planting bananas. Samana claimed that when he arrived, Talalima was swinging his machete as he walked towards him, and he got scared.

He stated that they had a conversation, which got out of hand, prompting Talalima to throw his coffee cup at him. He and Talalima then started punching and scratching each other, and when he couldn't beat him, he reached for his gun. He added that the police needed to check the weapon because it wasn't loaded.

Samana claimed that "it just happened that it (gun) was sitting in his ATV". The officers advised Samana to bring in the bullets to his gun. When asked about the weapon, Samana replied that it wasn't registered.

Both men were booked and confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility, to await the next available sitting of the District Court.