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Breast feeding mother arrested after allegedly stealing baby items

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A woman who is accused of stealing merchandise worth over $1,000 from a store in Nu’uuli was arrested by police last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the court.

Foketi Tufuga is being charged with one count of stealing — a felony, punishable by not more than 7 years imprisonment, and/or a fine of not more that $5,000 or both.

The charge against Tufuga stems from an incident that happened a few months ago when she allegedly stole boxes of baby goods and canned food from a store.

During her status hearing in District Court two weeks ago, Tufuga waived her rights to a preliminary examination hearing and her case is now bound over to the High Court for arraignment.

Tufuga denied the single count against her, and her Pretrial Conference is scheduled for May 10th.

Her defense attorney requested a reduction on her $5,000 bail that was set during her initial appearance, or be released on her own recognizance, telling the court that his client has a baby that needs to be breastfed, along with two minor children at home.

He explained that since her arrest, unable to post bail, her husband takes the bus from their home to the Territorial Correctional Facility with the baby, leaving their two minor children home alone — in order for the defendant to breastfeed the baby.

 He told the court that his client is not a flight risk. She has no intention of leaving American Samoa, because she has a family to look after. Furthermore, the defense attorney, pointed out to the court that his client has a clean record despite the charges against her.

After reviewing the defense’s motions, the court reduced Tufuga’s bond to $2,000. If she can post her bond, the Court has ordered her to comply with all of the conditions of her release, especially the condition to have no contact with government’s witnesses, including the owner and the employees of the store that were allegedly affected by her action.

The government claims that between November and December of 2020, Tufuga stole items from a store in Nuuuli. On one occasion, Tufuga entered the store and walked to the back side of the store where the cashier could not see her. While she was in the back side of the store, she took boxes of baby goods and canned food and put it inside her shopping bag.