Young woman escapes prosecution for almost two years

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A young woman accused of stealing a rental car and crashing it near a store in the Tafuna area almost two years ago is now in custody after police arrested her last month pursuant to an arrest warrant.

The young woman is Tiffany Manu’ula, the defendant in this case.

The government alleges that on Nov. 10, 2020, a female rented a car from a rental company in Tafuna. According to the rental agreement it was to be returned on Nov. 16, 2020.

When the car was not returned, the owner then reported the case to police and the person who rented the car was questioned.

According to the female who rented the car, the key to the car was laying on her bedside table when she went to sleep on the night of Nov. 15th, 2020. When she woke up the next morning the vehicle was not parked in the front of her house. She then asked her cousin (Manu’ula) about the car. Manu’ula replied that she had already turned the vehicle back in.

The woman who rented the car later found out that Manu’ula lied — the rental car was never returned to the rental company.

Police turned their investigation to Manu’ula, the person who last drove the car. When questioned by police, Manu’ula admitted that she stole the vehicle from her cousin, who had rented the car, to go see her uncle.

She stated that on her way back after seeing her uncle, she crashed the car into a tree near a store in Tafuna while racing with another car. She left the car and ran away.

Investigators interviewed Manu’ula’s uncle regarding the incident, where he confirmed that on the early morning of Nov. 16, 2020, Manu’ula came to him asking for money. After giving her money, she then left and returned home.

The defendant’s boyfriend told investigators that later that morning, Manu’ula contacted him again, asking him to pick her up because she had had a car accident and crashed the car into a tree in Tafuna.

Manu’ula made her initial appearance in Court last month.

She is charged with one count of stealing, for appropriating the property of another, a rental car belonging to the rental car company, without the owner’s consent, for the purpose of depriving the owner of the vehicle, a class C felony punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years, a $5,000 fine, or pursuant to A.S.C.A 46.2101, a fine equal to twice the amount of gain fro the commission of said crime, up to a maximum of $20,000, of both such fine and imprisonment.

Bail is $5,000.