Victim treated by EMS after alleged assault in local store

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On July 27, 2025, Fagatogo Police Station received a call regarding an alleged assault at a store involving a customer and an employee.

The customer was later apprehended and charged with:

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

Count 2: Public Peace Disturbance, a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $2,000.

Court records revealed that on July 27th, around 2:46 p.m, a woman called the FPS to report Pio Talaga (later identified as the suspect) who allegedly assaulted a victim inside a store in Fagatogo.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival they immediately interviewed the victim regarding what happened. The victim stated that the suspect assaulted him inside the store.

Authorities reviewed the store surveillance video footage and saw the suspect going inside the store with an ice cream container and trying to put it inside the store freezer. The victim stopped him and this made the suspect mad and he started choking the victim. The suspect also threw the victim down and punched him in the facial area multiple times.

The victim’s right eye and the back of his neck had bruises.

After interviewing the victim, the officers proceeded to search for the suspect while the other officer contacted the EMS.

EMS arrived at the scene and treated the victim, where he was later transported to the LBJ Hospital for further attention.

The suspect was apprehended later and taken to the FPS for further questioning. Upon arrival at the station, he was Mirandized to which he understood and agreed to make a statement.

According to the suspect, he got mad when the victim charged him $0.25 for a fork. Talaga further noted that he wanted to put his ice cream inside the freezer but the victim stopped him and he got mad and assaulted him.

Talaga was booked and confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

The defendant is identified as an 18-year-old U.S National.