Son damages home after mother allegedly finds his “pipe”

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On December 8, 2024, a mother called the Tafuna Police Substation to report that her son allegedly damaged her property because she found his “pipe” (paraphernalia) and hid it.

The suspect fled the scene but was later apprehended and charged with:

Count 1: Property Damage in the Second Degree (DV), a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $1,000.

According to the court affidavit, on Dec. 8th, at around 1:28 p.m., a mother (later identified as the victim) called the TPS and reported property damage at her residence. The victim stated that her son, later identified as Kenan Samuelu, destroyed her property inside her house.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival at the scene they observed a blue and white two-story building and they saw a female individual (later identified as the victim’s daughter/suspect’s sister) walking towards them. At the same time, another female individual (victim) exited the first floor of the house and briefed the officers regarding the incident.

The victim escorted the officers inside her house — on the second floor —  to show the damages. The officers photographed the scene and documented the report by the victim. In addition, the victim stated that the incident of property damage happened while they were at church in the morning.

The victim said that when she woke up in the morning, she found a pipe next to her son while he was sleeping. She took the pipe for the purpose that she would call the police later after church. She also stated that they went to church and left her son at the house because he was sleeping.

After church, she told her daughter to pick up their food from the house for their “to’ana’i”. However, when the daughter got home she was shocked when her daughter called her about what happened to the house.

The victim explained that when she got home, her son had left the house and she saw the chairs and the bed were upside down. The fan was broken, and the window and window iron were cracked.

The victim’s daughter told police that she went with her mother to church in the morning and the suspect was the only person who was in the house. She also mentioned that her aunt, who lived on the first floor of the house, told her that she heard a loud noise come from upstairs while she was cooking.

The victim’s daughter estimated total property damage to exceed $800.

After conducting the field interview of the victim at the scene, the officers told the victim that if her son returns home to call the TPS right away.

The officers seized the drug paraphernalia from the scene and later transferred it to the Vice & Narcotic Unit for their investigation.

Later, around 4:45 p.m., the victim called the TPS and informed the officers that the suspect was at home. The officers responded and the suspect was apprehended.

He was later transported to the TPS for further investigation.

Upon arrival at the station, the suspect was Mirandized to which he understood and agreed to make a statement.

Kenan Samuleu admitted that he damaged the property, which belongs to his mother. He also stated that he was unhappy that someone took something that belonged to him from where he slept.

The suspect was booked and transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility to be confined awaiting the next available sitting of the District Court.

On Dec. 9th, the officers met up with the suspect’s aunt and she verbally stated that “she didn’t see who was doing the act but she only heard a loud noise from the upper building”.

The defendant is identified as a 26-year-old U.S National.