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He stayed out of trouble for years, now he’s back in court charged with stealing

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man with two prior convictions over a decade ago is back in court again on a new allegation that he stole his mechanic’s vehicle. When pulled over by traffic officers two months ago, after the vehicle was reported as stolen.

Valasi Ilalio told officers the vehicle belonged to him, not his mechanic (victim).

He was taken into custody and during his arrest, cops discovered drugs in his possession.

The defendant made his initial appearance in court last month.

He is charged with one count of stealing, a class C felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 7 years, a $5,000 fine or pursuant to A.S.C.A 46.2101, a fine equal the twice the amount of gain from the commission of said crime, up to a maximum of $20,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Bail was set at $15,000.

THE CASE

The government claims that on the morning of June 10th, a man from Mapusaga, who was later identified as a mechanic/ victim in this case, contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for assistance to locate his vehicle, a blue pick-up, which he said was stolen by Valasi Ilalio. The victim used to fix Ilalio’s vehicle at his mechanic shop.

Four hours later, officers spotted the vehicle parked in front of a store in the Tafuna area. However the vehicle pulled out and headed east, making its way to the airport. The officers then observed the driver not wearing his seatbelt and pulled the vehicle over.

At that time, they observed two people inside the vehicle — the driver, who was later identified as Valasi Ilalio, the defendant, and a female occupant sitting in the passenger’s seat.

When told the vehicle he was driving was stolen, the defendant angrily told police that the pick-up belongs to him, not the mechanic. He then explained to police the reason why he believed the vehicle belonged to him.

Officers told the defendant that the vehicle was being impounded and he needed to come with them to the TPS for further discussion. The alleged owner of the vehicle would also be at the TPS with a document confirming that the pick-up belonged to him and is registered under his name.

At first, Ilalio refused to comply with officers’ instructions. He told officers that there’s no reason why his vehicle should be taken to TPS because it wasn’t a stolen vehicle.

After several attempts by officers to get Ilalio to comply, cops pulled Ilalio from the vehicle, handcuffed him and placed him inside a police unit.

Before Ilalio was taken into the TPS, he was patted down and a small stamp-seized baggie containing a white crystalline substance was discovered inside his front pocket. Officers also found inside his left pocket a glass pipe (commonly used to smoke meth) containing a white crystalline substance. The white crystalline substance was later tested and revealed it was positive for meth.

At the TPS, a document provided by the victim to investigators proved that the vehicle Ilalio had been driving belonged to the victim. The vehicle is registered under the name of William Atanoa Jr, the victim in this case.

Ilalio was Mirandized, after which he agreed to make a statement regarding the incident.

According to Ilalio, it was around Christmas last year when he took his white pickup to Atanoa Jr’s mechanic stop to fix. Two months later in February of this year, Atanoa Jr asked him if he could buy his pickup because he (Atanoa Jr) wanted to use it for his plantation.

In a verbal agreement, both men agreed that Atanoa Jr would pay Ilalio $1,800 for the pickup. Four months later in June, Ilalio went to Atanoa Jr for his money and discovered that Atanoa Jr had changed the color of his pick-up from white to blue. Ilalio further told investigators that he easily recognized his vehicle and that’s why he took the vehicle with him.

When asked about the drugs found in his possession, Ilalio told investigators that he found the glass pipe and the small baggie containing meth inside the vehicle. He further stated to investigators that the drugs do not belong to him.