Samoan man living in Alaska faces federal charges for credit union robberies

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 20-year old Samoan man living in Alaska is facing federal charges for allegedly robbing the same credit union on two different occasions and court filings show that it was members of his family who turned him into police.

Court records show that Etuale Ioane was arrested last week by agents of the U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is charged, through a criminal complaint, with robbing and stealing more than $3,400 from “Credit Union 1” on July 17 and August 28 of this year.

Ioane made his initial appearance last Friday at the federal court in Anchorage where the charges were officially presented, and he remains in temporary federal custody, while a detention hearing is set for later this week.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to detain the defendant, who was turned in by his family based on still photos from surveillance cameras, that were distributed through the media. The first one to contact authorities, according to an FBI Affidavit In Support of a Criminal Complaint, was the defendant’s mother who tipped off the Anchorage Police Department (APD) on Aug. 30, saying that her son was in a van on a street.

While APD officers were responding, Etuale' s aunt called APD Dispatch to tell them that she (the aunt) was in the van with her husband along with Etuale, according to the affidavit, which also states that APD Officers located and detained Etuale.

The affidavit notes that family members were able to identify Ioane as the person from the still photos, as well as based on the clothing and shoes he was wearing on the two-days of the alleged robberies.

According to the affidavit, upon contact with APD Officers, Etuale was wearing a black baseball cap, which was consistent with the cap worn by the suspect during the July 17 robbery. He was wearing sunglasses that were consistent with the sunglasses worn by the suspect in both robberies.

Furthermore, he was wearing white Nike tennis shoes with tan soles that were consistent with the shoes worn by the suspect in the August 28 robbery. And he was in possession of  $714.00 in U.S. Currency — five $100 bills, ten $20 bills, one $5 bill, and nine  $1 bills.

According to the affidavit, police interviewed Etuale’s mother and other relatives including conducting a search of the mother’s home, as she consented to the search and discovered the different clothing that the defendant wore on the days of the alleged robberies, as shown in the surveillance camera footage.

After obtaining an official State of Alaska search warrant, authorities executed the warrant on Etuale’s residence. Investigators located and seized clothing that was consistent with that worn by the suspect in the July 17 robbery, including white Nike tennis shoes with a black Nike "swoosh" on the sides, a blue denim jacket with attached gray hood, and dark denim jeans.

Investigators also located and seized clothing that was consistent with that worn by the suspect in the August 28 robbery, including long blue jacket with a hood, bright metal zippers and gold rectangular emblem on the left chest, a second pair of dark denim jeans, and white t-shirt.

Alaska police later worked with the FBI on this case.

And when questioned by the FBI, Etuale denied that he was the suspect responsible for the July 17 and August 28 robberies of CUI. He had not been to the CUI in question. He told investigators  that anyone else could possess the clothing items in question.

“In reviewing photos of the robbery suspect from both incidents, Etuale admitted that the suspect had similar physical characteristics to himself,” said the FBI affidavit.

The federal affidavit identified by name each family member interviewed by police and statements they provided to authorities. Samoa News has opted not to identified the family members by their names or where the reside in Alaska at this point, unless something else changes in this case, that would necessitate their identity being revealed.

Court filings and prosecutors allege that on July 17, around 1:15 p.m., Ioane entered the credit union and waited in line until being called forward by a teller.

The defendant produced a handwritten note commanding the employee to give him money, and stated to hurry up because he had a gun and would shoot everyone inside.

The suspect grabbed the money and said to the CUI employee/ teller, "I'll remember you," which the employee believed was a threat, according to the FBI affidavit. The suspect walked out of CUI with roughly $2,118 — leaving the demand note at the teller window.

On Aug. 28, around 2:42 p.m., Ioane allegedly entered the same credit union and presented a demand note that stated people within the building would be harmed if his demands were not met. The note said to not alert anyone, press any buttons or try to give him bait bills. The defendant fled with around $1,340.

The CUI boss, when interviewed by authorities, advised that the robbery suspect looked like the individual who had robbed the same CUI location on July 17. CUI employees described the suspect in the August 28 robbery as Polynesian or Samoan, approximately 5' 11" - 6'0" tall, weighing approximately 170 pounds.

Surveillance video from both robberies were given to authorities, who then came up with the still photos of a suspect, that were distributed to the media. Some of the still photos were embedded with the FBI affidavit filed in court.

Ioane is charged with four counts of credit union robbery. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, according to prosecutors’ statements, which noted that a federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.