‘Tough Guy’ charged with assault

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A woman phoned the Fagatogo Police Station on September 30, 2023 at 10:47 PM reporting that a man, identified as Christopher To’omata, had assaulted her brother and was causing a disturbance in Laulii Aumi. 

When officers arrived at the scene, they met with the woman who called the situation in, and she explained what had happened. She found out about the incident when her siblings came running to tell her that the defendant was beating up their brother. The woman reported that the defendant came out of nowhere, jumped on their vehicle and hit her brother in the face and then left. 

After the incident, the defendant went back and tried to assault the victim again, and when the defendant saw the police unit pulling up, he fled. 

According to the victim, he was unaware of why To’omata was mad at him. The victim says that he was drinking with a friend on the bed of their truck and To’omata came up and to his brother-in- law, and aggressively asked him a question. Out of nowhere, the defendant started assaulting the victim and then threw a beer bottle at the victim and hit him on the head. 

After the officers were briefed on the situation, they canvassed the area to locate To’omata but he was nowhere to be found. The victim’s family was then advised to call them immediately when they saw the defendant. 

After interviewing the victim, officers returned to the station and within 30 minutes, the victim’s sister called reporting that To’omata had returned to his own residence. Officers then responded and arrived at To’omata’s residence, where they found him in bed, smoking a cigarette. 

Officers apprehended To’omata and transported him to the FPS for further investigation. 

Upon arrival at the FPS, officers Mirandized To’omata, where he agreed to provide a statement and answer questions. According to the defendant, he assaulted the victim because the victim called him out on “pretending to be a tough guy”, so he slapped the victim’s mouth. 

To’omata is facing a charge of assault in the third degree.

Bail is set at $300.