Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 34-year-old man was recently apprehended on August 7, 2023, when the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) received a call from a family member, requiring assistance in regards to a drunk individual who was strangling their teenage son with a belt.

When officers responded to the residence of the family, they were notified by the husband and wife that the defendant “had fled from their house when he heard her calling the police.” After the wife identified herself, she told her three children to show their injuries to the officers, with the officer advising the family to proceed to LBJ hospital to treat their injuries.

On the same night, officers then canvassed the area to locate the defendant, Ernie Feula, but were unsuccessful at the time.

At 1 AM, the next day, the husband called the FPS to notify the officers the defendant had come back to their place of residence. Officers made their way to the family’s residence but once again the defendant had fled the scene. Officers then made another attempt to locate the defendant, but were unsuccessful.

At 1:39 AM, the family was escorted to the police station and were all interviewed.

The oldest son, who was allegedly assaulted by Feula, stated that “as his younger siblings were playing, Ernie got mad at how loud his siblings were and just came outside and whipped him with a belt,” and then turned around and “hit his younger sister on her back using the belt buckle.”

He alleged that as “he was trying to make his way into the house, he was shocked that the defendant came and strangled him with the belt on his neck.”

The victim struggled to call out for help and assumed that no one heard him, but his younger sister saw what was happening and went to tell their parents and that’s when his mother came and pushed the defendant off of him. The oldest son sustained belt marks around his neck.

The younger sister told officers that the defendant aggressively hit her back with the belt buckle, which left bruises on the top left side of her back.

The mother confirmed what her son described her as doing during the attack, and  claimed that the defendant then “rushed into the room and threatened to kill her husband, and then grabbed a bench and tried to hit her husband, Maselino with it.”

It was when she jumped in front of the defendant to stop him from hitting her husband that she was hit “with the bench by Ernie, which left a scratch on her cheek.”

A scuffle between her husband and the defendant then allegedly ensued, with other various family members intervening to break up the fight, and to drag the defendant away to stop him from causing any further ruckus.

The husband’s statement echoed his wife’s statement.

After interviewing the couple, they told officers that “their son texted that the defendant had returned home and that the defendant is stating that he is going to kill their father” and that he is waiting for them at home, along with yielding a knife in his possession, according to court records.

The family then stayed at the police station until the defendant was located. At 7:37 AM officers observed an unknown individual male sleeping under the bushes and were able to confirm that he was Feula.

He voluntarily went with officers to the police station, where they also detected the strong odor of alcohol emitting from his person.

Feula was Mirandized and did not want to make a statement.

He has been charged with  3 counts of felony crimes of abuse of a child, two misdemeanor counts of private peace disturbance, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and two counts of assault in the third degree.

Bail for the defendant has been set at $20,000.