Woman who allegedly hid her son from the cops — arrested

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A woman accused of preventing the arrest of her 16-year-old son who is accused of assaulting his brother-in-law is now in custody after she was arrested last week pursuant to a court warrant.

The investigation into the matter disclosed that in January of 2022, Vai Taaseu, who is the defendant in this case, prevented the arrest of her 16-year-old son, by deceiving officers and harboring him in her home. Taaseu’s son is named in the affidavit as J.T.

The government claims that J.T was the suspect in a 1st degree assault case.

On Jan. 8, 2022, several police officers responded to Taaseu’s residence in Tafuna and their investigation revealed that J.T allegedly assaulted his brother-in-law with a machete causing multiple lacerations that required medical care.

J.T was not at the residence when officers arrived and attempts to locate him on Jan. 8 were unsuccessful.

Officers were told by Taaseu that she would transport her son to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) once he came back home.

Officers informed Taaseu that it’s her duty to bring her son to the TPS because the allegation against him is serious and police need to talk to him regarding the alleged assault.

In the following days — Taaseu never brought J.T to the TPS and continued to tell officers when they returned repeatedly  to her residence that her son was not there and that she would bring him in if he came back home.

It was on Jan. 11, two officers went back to Taaseu’s family and met up with Taaseu’s children, who stated to police that their mother was not at home. They further stated to officers that they didn’t know when their mother was coming back home.

Officers asked Taaseu’s children if they were sure that their mother was not at home, and the children replied yes.

Since investigators still wanted to speak to J.T regarding the assault incident and J.T’s mother had not turned over her son, investigators then turned to the court for help. On Jan. 15, the court signed a Custody Order for J.T.

Later on that day, investigators went back to Taaseu’s residence to locate J.T and they met up with Taaseu, who told them that J.T was not at home and once again agreed to bring J.T into the police station if he returns home.

Four days later, on Jan. 19, investigators went back to Taaseu’s residence searching for J.T and met up with Taaseu who told them that her son, J.T was asleep in her bedroom and that he returned home 2- 3 days ago. Investigators immediately apprehended J.T and transported him to the TPS for further investigation. Taaseu was also told to come to the TPS to discuss some matters with police.

When she arrived at the TPS, investigators told Taaseu that she was being investigated for preventing the arrest of her son, J.T and that a report would be sent to the Attorney General’s Office for prosecution.

When asked, Taaseu told investigators that she wished to make a statement regarding the alleged incident. According to her statement, J.T had been home for 2- 3 days and she was surprised when officers arrived at her home this morning.

She further admitted that she did not call the DPS when J.T returned home on Jan. 17 because she did not want J.T to go to the Juvenile Detention Center and she believed the case between J.T and the victim (J.T’s brother-in-law) had already been settled amongst themselves.

Taaseu is charged with a single count of hindering prosecution, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

She made her initial appearance in court last month and bail is set at $5,000.