Man arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife with a shovel

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting his wife with the sharp part of a metal shovel is now in custody after he was arrested by cops two weeks ago.

The defendant made his initial appearance in District Court where his bail was set at $20,000.

He is charged with one count of 2nd degree assault involving domestic violence, a class D felony.

THE CASE

The government claims that on Jan. 6, 2022 at about 5:42p.m, the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) received a call form from a woman stating she had called her female friend on her cellphone and heard profanities in the background. Several police officers responded to the call and met up with a female individual who was later identified as the victim in this case.

The victim explained to officers what allegedly happened and the defendant was immediately apprehended and placed inside a police unit for safety before he was later transported to the TPS for further investigation.

According to the victim’s statement to investigators, the defendant was angry with her —  yelling at her — but she never talked back to him and he thought that she was giving him attitude so he then grabbed a metal shovel and hit her with it while cussing at her in front of her kids.

Investigators interviewed the couple’s 14-year-old daughter who stated that every time her parents argue her mom always gets hurt. She saw her father (defendant) hitting her mom with the metal shovel with the sharp end.

She said her dad is always saying that one day one of them is going to die if they do him wrong.

She went on to say that when her parents argue, they can’t stop their dad because they are too scared because they know that they will also get hurt.