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Apology wasn’t enough after father sees his son suffering from injuries

American Samoa District Court building
He at first accepted reconciliation but then just couldn’t…
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Asaeli Sagato is now in custody after he was arrested last month for allegedly assaulting a 20-year-old male. During his arrest, cops found illegal substances inside his pocket.

Sagato made his initial appearance in Court where his bail was set at $25,000.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of marijuana and one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), both unclassified felonies, along with 1st-degree assault, a class B felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of 10 to 30 years, and 2nd-degree burglary, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, and four misdemeanor charges including armed with a dangerous weapon, trespass, PPD and 3rd-degree property damage.

THE CASE

On Mar. 13, 2022, several police officers responded to a call from a man seeking police assistance after another man assaulted his nephew. Officers arrived at the scene and family members guided them straight inside the house and then to the room where the victim was lying.

Officers observed a male (later identified as the victim in this case) lying on his bed with head injuries. EMS crew was immediately contacted and they arrived and treated the victim at the scene before he was transported to the LBJ Tropical Medical Hospital for further treatment.

Officers questioned a family member about the injured person and were informed that a man named Asaeli Sagato, who lives next door, came with a metal pipe and allegedly struck the victim on the head causing severe injuries.

Officers went to the house next door in an effort to locate the suspect and they observed a man sitting in front of house on the door step looking at the officers. When approached by officers, the man introduced himself as Sagato, the defendant in this matter.

After a brief conversation with officers, the suspect was apprehended and escorted to the police unit where he was detained before he was transported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for further investigation.

During the apprehension process, officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol emitting from the suspect’s breath and clothing.

Before he was taken inside the police unit, he was patted down for safety reasons. During the pat down, officers discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance, which was later tested and was positive for meth, along with a small stamp sized baggie containing a green leafy substance which was also tested and was positive result for THC, the active compound in marijuana.

Officers interviewed several family members of the victim about the incident. The man who reported the alleged incident, who identified himself as the victim’s uncle, told officers that two days ago his nephew assaulted Sagato’s son during a volleyball game.

The reporter stated that his nephew punched Sagato’s son and then struck him on the head and the back with a piece of wood.

On the same night, he, his wife and the nephew went to Sagato’s house and apologized for what happened on behalf of his nephew. Before they entered the house, Sagato stormed outside of his house and assaulted him and his nephew. He did not respond because he understood how Sagato felt about what had happened to his son.

They discussed the matter and finally reconciled their differences. His nephew also apologized to Sagato and his son and they seemingly accepted it.

On the day of the incident, the reporter stated to police that he was at work when his wife called and alerted him about what had happened. His wife stated that Sagato came to their house intoxicated and asked for the victim.

The victim came out and greeted Sagato thinking that everything was okay and both families had reconciled the matter. However, Sagato immediately punched the victim in the face twice causing him to fall down. The victim ran inside the house for help and straight to his room to hide there.

Sagato walked inside the house and straight to the room where the victim was hiding and assaulted him again by kicking his back, and punching him in the face before he struck his head with a metal pipe while the victim was yelling out for help.

The victim’s uncle arrived but Sagato had already left the scene and that’s when he decided to contact police for help to avoid any further confrontation between him and Sagato.

The reporter also stated that Sagato damaged the front door of his house when he unlawfully entered the house and assaulted his nephew.

Police also interviewed the victim in this case about what happened, two days after he was discharged from the LBJ hospital.

According to the 20-year-old victim, the incident started from the volleyball game when Sagato’s son yelled profanities at his sister. He confronted Sagato’s son and advised him not to do that again but Sagato’s son swore at him and pushed him in his chest.

It was when he pushed him again and then punched him in the face before he struck his head with a piece of hard wood.

On the same night, he apologized to Sagato and his son for what he did and they accepted his apology.

However, two days later, he was helping his aunt inside the kitchen when he heard Sagato calling out his name from outside of their house. He left what he was doing and ran outside and saw Sagato standing at the front door very intoxicated.

He greeted Sagato and asked him if there’s anything he can do for him, but Sagato did not reply. He just walked up to him and punched him in his face twice.

According to the victim, he quickly ran inside the house while calling out his aunt’s name for help. He ran straight inside his room and hid there, thinking that Sagato would not enter the room. However, he was shocked when he saw his room door open and saw Sagato walking up to him and continued to assault him by punching him in the face area and his chest.

At one point, the victim stated that he was unconscious and did not feel anything, however, he woke up after he felt another punch on his face.

As he was trying to cover his face with his hand, Sagato grabbed a metal pipe and struck his head twice causing severe injuries and pain.

His aunt came and helped him, while Sagato walked away from their house. His uncle also arrived and immediately contacted police and EMS for help.

Sagato was Mirandized and he said he understood and waived his rights and agreed to provide a statement regarding the incident.

According to the defendant’s statement to investigators, it all started two days ago after the victim assaulted his son at the volleyball game. His son sustained severe head injuries and he was treated at the LBJ hospital where he received 6 stitches to close a cut on his head.

The defendant stated that he forgave the victim for what he did to his son after they met at his house with the victim’s uncle and his wife and they reconciled. However, on the day of the alleged incident he came home around 4p.m and found his son inside the house crying due to the pain from his head injury.

The defendant said he was at his friend’s house in Vaitogi fixing his uncle’s truck and had drank two big bottles of beer at his friend’s house, before he went home.

And when he saw his son in pain and crying, out of anger, he walked to the victim’s house in an effort to speak to the uncle, however, it was the victim who came out of the house and greeted him. That’s when his anger came out and he punched the victim in the face twice causing the victim to run inside the house and hide inside his room.

The defendant said he followed the victim inside his room and assaulted him again before he struck his head with a metal pipe.

When questioned about the illegal substance found in his possession, the defendant told investigators he got the illegal drugs from his friend after they fixed his uncle’s truck in Vaitogi.

The defendant asked investigators about filing a complaint against the victim for assaulting his nephew and investigators advised the defendant that he could file a criminal complaint against the victim.