Man charged with assault after surveillance video captures the action

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting another man was arrested and is being charged. Siolo Mate made his initial appearance in Court last month.

He is charged with one count of 2nd-degree assault, a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a $5,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Bail is set at $10,000.

THE CASE

On July 12, 2022 at about 8:24p.m, the TPS received a phone call from a woman requesting police assistance after a man assaulted another man in front of a store in the Tafuna area.

Several police officers responded to the call and were able to meet up with the reporter.

Officers arrived and observed the victim sitting outside the store parking lot. The victim was bleeding from his head and facial area and he was taken by EMS crew to LBJ for treatment.

When questioned by officers about what actually happened, the reporter stated that she was standing outside in the store parking lot when a man, later identified as Siolo Mate, the defendant in this matter approached the victim and the two had a verbal conversation for over 2 minutes. The next she saw was that the victim fell on the ground after Mate had punched him in the face.

The reporter also stated that while the victim was lying on the ground, the defendant grabbed a piece of lumber from the back of the victim’s pickup truck and struck the victim’s head and body several times.

Officers went to the LBJ where they were able to interview the victim. According to the victim’s statement, he was talking on the phone when his wife’s cousin, the defendant in this matter, approached him and questioned him regarding a family issue.

He told the defendant to wait until they get home so that they could discuss the issue because they were in public area. The defendant did not listen. He continued to ask questions of the victim and accused him of stealing from their aunt’s home.

As the defendant was speaking to the victim, the victim stated that he was shocked when the defendant punched him in the face knocking him down. He tried to stand up but the defendant walked to his (victim’s) pickup truck, picked up a piece of lumber and struck him on the head and body.

Luckily, a man who saw the defendant’s action ran over and pushed the defendant away.

Officers obtained footage from the store video surveillance system, which confirmed the assault.

The defendant was apprehended two days after the incident at his grand- parents residence. After he was Mirandized, the defendant decided to remain silent and refused to make a statement.