Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Falaniko Fetoa’i, who is an inmate at the Tafuna Correctional Facility (TCF) serving a sentence from a previous felony conviction, has been charged with one count of Escape from Confinement.

According to court documents, police were tipped off by an anonymous caller on June 13, 2023, who revealed that Fetoa’i was spotted outside of the TCF walls. According to the anonymous caller, Fetoa’i had been seen at a house not far from the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC), and that he had been out of the TCF for four days. Officers of the Department of Public Safety Vice & Narcotics Unit (VNU) then conducted a surveillance of the area where the defendant was said to be.

At around 1:20p.m, a truck driven by a female who was identified as Alofagia Fetoa’i (the defendant’s spouse), exited the dirt road across from the JDC and proceeded on to the public highway. The vehicle was pulled over by the DPS- VNU at the intersection leading to the Department of Public Works M&O strip. At first, police thought that the female driver was the only occupant of the vehicle, but then they observed someone else inside the vehicle crouching down as if he was trying to hide.

The second occupant was later identified as Falaniko Fetoa’i. The couple were both placed in handcuffs and taken to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for further investigation.

Upon questioning, Fetoa’i revealed that on June 13, 2023 at around 6a.m, he was woken up by Correctional Officer Salvation Va’a who asked him if he could come with him to fix his car. Fetoa’i stated that he agreed and they exited the TCF through the front gate that morning.

When they were outside, CO Va’a told him that they would go to a friend’s house at the dirt road across from the JDC compound to fix his vehicle, since his friend had all the tools to fix it. Fetoa’i stated that he finished fixing CO Va’a’s vehicle at around 1p.m. and he then requested if he could call his wife to pick him up and drop him off at the TCF. His request was granted by CO Va’a and it was when his wife was taking him back to the TCF that the DPS- VNU pulled their car over which resulted in their being taken to the TPS for further investigation.

Fetoa’i denied that he was out of the TCF compound for 4 days and he reiterated that it was CO Va’a who had been responsible for his being outside the TCF compound.

His wife, Alofagia Fetoa’i was Mirandized, to which she stated that she was aware, however, she refused to make a statement. She was transported to the TCF where she was confined for 48 hours while the Arrest Warrant was being processed.

Later that afternoon, police checked on the couple’s three children, an 11 year-old, 9 year-old and a 5 year-old, to make sure they were safe and cared for while their parents were being incarcerated. The mother’s brother, Galu Asotasi and his wife assured police that the children would be safe with at their Nu’uuli home. Police also referred the matter to the DHSS Child Protective Services for their assessment.

In a follow-up investigation on June 14, 2023, TCF Warden Marion Fitisemanu produced head count forms from dates June 09, 2023 to June 13, 2023 when Fetoa’i claimed he was in, and upon review, it was revealed that Fetoa’i was accounted for in all of the head counts conducted by the Correctional Officers.

However, Warden Fitisemanu stated that due to the TCF being short-staffed, he was not one hundred percent sure if the head counts had been thoroughly conducted. He revealed that there are some shifts where one female and one male Correctional Officer would be responsible to watch over 300-plus inmates.

CO Va’a was contacted via cellphone and he provided a verbal statement saying that he is currently working the graveyard shift, but didn’t work on the mornings of June 12 to June 13, 2023 for he had taken a day off. He also stated that “he had never asked nor had any contact with Falaniko Fetoa’i. He said that the only time he saw Fetoa’i was when he conducted a head count on June 11 to June 12, 2023 and Fetoa’i was present at the TCF Alpha Max Building where he is being incarcerated.

The charge of Escape from Confinement is a class D felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a $5,000.00 fine, or both such fine and imprisonment.