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Break ins on the rise — homes and vehicles

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A young man was arrested by police last month after he allegedly entered a family home at night without permission.

Alapu Aleli made his initial appearance in court last month.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), a felony, along with one count of trespassing and one count of 3rd degree property damage, both class A misdemeanors.

Bail is set at $5,000.

The government’s attorney informed the court that they would be filing additional charges next week after police completed their investigation.

Aleli is scheduled to appear in court next week for a Status Hearing.

According to the government’s case, a woman contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for assistance after she found a young man inside her house uninvited. Police quickly responded to the call and observed a young man sitting outside of the house with two men standing beside him.

The woman who reported the case told police that when she heard a loud noise from the back of the house, she went to check it out and was shocked when she saw a young man standing in the kitchen. The woman called out to her boyfriend and nephew, who immediately responded and stopped the man from fleeing.

The man found inside the house was later identified as the defendant in this case.

Aleli was apprehended at the scene and transported to the TPS for questioning.

When asked by police about the allegation that he entered the family’s home uninvited, Akeli said that his girlfriend told him to come to her house to spend the night with her, however, he was shocked when he found out that he was in the wrong house.

Aleli was heavily intoxicated when police arrested him. During his apprehension, officers found a glass pipe containing white crystalline substance inside his pant’s rear pocket. The white crystalline substance later tested positive for meth.

Aleli told police he doesn’t remember where he got the illegal substance from because he was heavily intoxicated.

MIKAELE LALOMILO

A young man with two outstanding bench warrants from the High Court was arrested for allegedly trying to break into a vehicle at the LBJ parking lot last month.

Mikaele Lalomilo made his initial appearance in District Court last month where the court ordered him to be released on his own recognizance under certain conditions, including making all of his court appearances and being in close contact with his attorney.

Lalomilo is being charged with attempted stealing and public peace disturbance, both class A misdemeanors.

According to the government’s case, an eyewitness contacted police from the LBJ parking lot Thursday afternoon, reporting that someone was trying to break into a parked vehicle.

Several police officers arrived and found Lalomilo near the scene. While processing him for booking, police officers discovered that the defendant had two outstanding warrants from the High Court for failure to comply with conditions of his cases from 2018 and 2019.

Before he made his initial appearance in District Court, Lalomilo appeared in High Court for an Order to Show Cause (OSC) hearing, where the court ordered him to be released on his own recognizance to await his next court appearance, scheduled for next month.