Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who is still on the loose is facing three assault charges after officers from the Tafuna Police Substation received a call and proceeded to a store in Nu’uuli where they observed four male individuals in front of the store where one of them was holding a shirt against the stomach and applying pressure to a downed man.

Officers provided medical aid to the victim and contacted Emergency Medical Services.

According to the police report, on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 officers received a call at about 10p.m. and they responded to the call. Officers spoke with the victim and took pictures of his injuries while waiting for the EMS to arrive and transport the injured man to the LBJ Medical Center for further treatment.

After processing the scene, officers transported the caller, Mahoni Faitau to the TPS. He was identified as the defendant in this case.

According to Faitau’s statement, he was home when his brother Jared came and told him that he saw the victim passing by with his (Jared’s) bike that was stolen the night before.

Jared insisted that Mahoni accompany him to retrieve the bike and they proceeded to the front  — where the Nu’uuli main road is.

Mahoni states that while he was walking to the front, he saw his brother chasing the victim from afar.  He caught up with them in front of the old Mr. LavaLava and saw his brother on top of the victim.

He then ran and tackled his brother off the victim and a knife dropped on the ground when his brother fell backwards. When Mahoni got up, he looked at the victim and the victim told him he was injured.

Mahoni states he saw the suspect bleeding on the left side of his stomach, and that’s when he took off his shirt and applied pressure to the victim's injury. Mahoni then offered the victim aid, assisted him and called for help.

After interviewing Mahoni, officers dropped him off and attempted to locate the suspect, Mahoni’s brother, Jared. Upon arrival at Mahoni’s residence, the officers went to the brothers’ father to inquire on the location of the suspect, and the father informed them he has not been home since the incident.

Officers then followed up on the victim and brought him and his mother to the TPS to get the man’s side of the story.

According to the victim’s verbal statement, he came to the store and the suspect was waiting for him in front of the bus stop by the Tafuna intersection. The victim further stated that the suspect came up to him and challenged him to a fight. He stepped back and the suspect struck him with a weapon that was later identified as a knife. The suspect swung the knife at him and out of instinct, he used his hand to fend off the attacks and the knife slashed his hands.

The victim said he then ran to the abandoned building behind the bus stop but the suspect caught up to him and slashed him again with the knife, which cut the left side of his stomach, at which time he punched the suspect and ran towards the front road.

As he was running, he saw Mahoni running from the back and assumed Mahoni was rushing to beat him up as well, but when he got in front of (the old) Mr. LavaLava, he collapsed. He then told Mahoni that he was bleeding, and Mahoni offered him aid and took him in front of the store while Mahoni called the police station for help.

The day after, in the morning, officers went back to the scene with the victim and his mother, retracing the steps to where the assault started. Court documents reveal that the victim received eight stitches to the left side of his stomach and four stitches on the palm of his left-hand

Jared Faitau is being charged with 3 criminal counts — assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, assault in the third degree and one charge of assault in the third degree classified as a class C misdemeanor. Bail is set at $10,000.

To date, Faitau is still on the loose and officers are still trying to locate him.

If you have any information on his whereabouts, you are asked to please contact the Tafuna police station.