Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On August 25, 2025, a victim of a domestic dispute called the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) and reported that her boyfriend had assaulted her.

The suspect was later arrested and charged with:

Count 1: Private Peace Disturbance (DV), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300, or both imprisonment and fine; and,

Count 2: Assault in the Third 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.

(Samoa News has withheld the names of those involved to protect the identity of the minor.)

Court records revealed that on Aug. 25th, at approximately 7:23 a.m., FPS received a call from a woman (the victim) who requested assistance regarding an alleged assault. The victim claimed that her boyfriend had assaulted her.

Police officers were dispatched to respond to the call, and upon arrival, they met the victim, who was sitting outside her house. The authorities approached her, and she identified herself and provided a statement.

The victim said that the argument between her and her boyfriend (the suspect) started the night before — Aug. 24, 2025. She explained that the suspect became angry with her for taking their 3-month-old baby to her cousin while she was working a graveyard shift at StarKist.

As they were arguing, the suspect got mad and kicked her from behind, causing her to hit her knee on the side of the bed, then the floor. When she stood up and packed her belongings, the suspect came rushing towards her and hit her jaw while trying to collar her on the way out of the room to force her to get back inside the room.

He stopped and left her alone when one of the tenants where they live approached them and told the suspect to stop. No visible injuries were observed on the victim.

The tenant (witness) was also interviewed, and she stated that she was sleeping and suddenly heard someone knocking on her door for a short time, but she turned around to go back to sleep. However, as she was falling asleep, she heard a loud slap followed by a loud bang, as if someone had dropped. She went outside to check and saw the victim on the floor with a torn t-shirt.

The victim was crying while the suspect was holding onto her shirt and pulling her back into their room. She said that she approached the suspect and told him to stop, and he did and left. The victim then used her phone to call the police for assistance.

After interviewing both parties, a man exited the house and sat down next to where the officers were standing. The officers asked him if he was the suspect, to which he confirmed.

The suspect was secured and transported to the police station for further investigation.

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

He stated that this is not the first time they have argued, and they always argue because of their baby. He claimed that the victim’s cousin, who was babysitting their baby, approached him and told him that they needed to find someone else to babysit their baby. The victim's cousin said to him that she had a lot to do but could not because of their baby.

Moreover, he then spoke to the victim about it, and he became angry because he had arrived home and the victim was not with the baby. He asked her and confronted her, but she yelled at him as if he was beating her up, but he wasn’t.

The victim then left the room and went knocking on the tenant’s door. He approached the victim and told her to stop bothering people, but she continued to knock on the tenant’s door.

He grabbed her by her shirt and tried pulling her back to their room to avoid disturbing other people.

The suspect was later booked and confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility, to await the next available sitting of the District Court.