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Court Report

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ENDANGERING WELFARE OF A CHILD
oey@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A woman called the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) on the evening of July 6, 2023 claiming a family member had physically abused her 3-year old daughter, who had just been discharged from LBJ on that same day.

When the woman and her child arrived at TPS, officers observed red marks across the child’s left arm, lower back, and towards the front of her waist. Officers took photos along with noting down both the mother and child’s information.

In her written statement, the woman stated she was not present during the incident, but that her mother explained to her what happened. According to the woman’s mother, the child, M.F., was playing with a cousin, and while playing, the child threw a ball and hit her cousin’s face resulting in the cousin crying to his father, saying his tooth was about to fall out.

The father (whose name is being withheld to protect the minors involved in this case) then allegedly hit M.F. with a fly swatter — specifically a fly swatter with metal handles leaving marks on M.F.’s body. After receiving the woman's voluntary written statement, officers contacted DHSS to have a social worker conduct an assessment of M.F.

At 08:56 PM, officers proceeded to Malaeimi to locate the 43-year-old man, and when they arrived at his residence, they were told by his wife that “he was at work in Fagaotogo and doesn’t get off work until morning.” Officers then got his phone number from the wife, contacted him and told him to come into TPS to discuss a complaint made against him.

At 09:30 PM, officers went to the grandmother’s residence and asked her to come into the station to provide a voluntary statement about the incident as well. Officers then went with the grandmother to the man’s residence and provided them with the fly swatter allegedly used to hit the child, and then transported the grandmother to TPS.

The grandmother then reiterated and confirmed her initial statement told by her daughter earlier. At 10 PM, the man walked into TPS, was Mirandized and booked, but refused to provide a statement about the incident.

His initial court appearance was on July 25, 2023 and he was charged with two counts of assault in the third degree, and one count for endangering the welfare of a child.

Bail for the defendant was set at $1,000.

TRAFFIC ACCIDENT RESULTS IN INJURIES

The Fagatogo Central Station received a call on July 3, 2023 at 12:15 PM after an accident occurred in Gataivai. When officers showed up at the scene, they provided first aid.

Officers interviewed both drivers, and according to the report, Lorena Tuiolosega said, “She just got off from work at her assigned work location from the SYEP program and was heading home” on the west bound lane in Gataivai when the accident occurred.

She had just passed the tank farm and before turning the curve, she reached for her phone, not noticing that her vehicle had veered to the eastbound lane, and realized that it was a little too late for her to steer back to her lane, and struck another vehicle that was on the eastbound lane. She also told officers that she was the only occupant in her vehicle.

A statement from the driver that Tuiolosega struck, Fa’atau Kome, said that they were heading east on the eastbound lane from running errands, when he saw Tuiolosega’s vehicle coming towards them. He added that “as he saw the vehicle coming towards them, he saw Tuiolosega on the phone,” he then steered his car a little farther away so their vehicles wouldn’t collide with each other — to no avail.

Tuiolosega’s vehicle struck the rear left side of Kome’s vehicle, and due to the sudden impact of Tuiolosega’s vehicle hitting theirs, he steered his vehicle in a way as to prevent them from driving into the ocean and hitting another vehicle that was behind Tuiolosega. Their truck got stuck in mid-lane facing the mountain side, according to Kome.

A total of six occupants not including himself were in his vehicle, his wife seated in the front passenger side, his two daughters behind them, and in the bed of the truck were his three sons.

An eyewitness also relayed to the officers’ that he was heading west and was behind Tuiolosega’s vehicle when he saw her vehicle veering to the left, and also observed Tuiolosega put her hand down from her ear as if she was on the phone, but by then any attempt by her to prevent a collision proved moot.

Emergency Medical Services conducted a checkup of all drivers and occupants, and escorted two occupants from Kome’s vehicle for further treatment at LBJ.

According to a LBJ physician, one of the occupants from Kome’s vehicle sustained a left knee contusion injury and anxiety from the accident. The other occupant sustained a left knee pain and a mild contusion as well. Both were released later that day and were prescribed OTC medicines for their pain.

Tuiolosega made an initial appearance on July 25, 2023 where she was charged with two counts of careless driving causing bodily injury.