Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man from Malaeimi accused of assaulting another man with a knife and a rock last year is now in custody after he was arrested last month.

Simoli Osofialevaiofagalele, a.k.a Moli Fagalele was arrested during a traffic stop for driving a vehicle with an expired license plate tag. During his arrest, police discovered illegal drugs in his pocket.

It’s not known at this time why the government waited so long to file their case against Osofialevaiofagalele.

Osofialevaiofagalele made his initial appearance in court last month.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth); a felony; one count of 1st-degree assault, a class A felony punishable by imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years and not more than 30 years; along with one count of 3rd-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor, punishable by term of imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Due to the seriousness of the alleged crime, the defendant is being held in custody without bail.

THE CASE

The government alleges that the incident took place on Dec. 7, 2021, in the afternoon. A caller to the Tafuna Police Station (TPS) requested police help saying that a man had allegedly been assaulted by a man with a knife and a rock at a family compound in the Tafuna area; and that the man who committed the alleged crime had immediately left the scene and was walking on the road westbound, while the injured man was still in the house.

The caller also told police that the defendant is known by the name of Oli or Fagalele.

Police responded to the call and EMS personnel were also notified, and the victim was transported to the LBJ Medical Hospital for treatment.

The victim was discharged after spending three days in the hospital.

Officers interviewed the victim at the home of a family member and observed the victim’s injuries.

According to the victim’s statement to police, he was watching television inside his living room when the defendant entered his house — holding a rock in his right hand and asked him why he scolded his sister’s children at the store.

According to the victim, he explained to the defendant that the reason he scolded the two young ladies at the store earlier that day was because the two girls had stolen items from the store and he had advised them not to do that again because it would get them into trouble.

However, Osofialevaiofagalele told the victim he had no business confronting his sister’s children and if he knew something was wrong, he should have spoken to his sister about it.

According to the victim, the exchange of words escalated into violence when Osofialevaiofagalele suddenly struck him with a rock, first in the back of his head, second above his right eye, and third on his head. The defendant then pulled a knife out of his pocket and started stabbing him in his back multiple times, before he kicked him in the face and body, while he was still on the floor.

The victim stated that the defendant left the scene after he assaulted him, and he (the victim) was still lying on the floor inside the house injured.

However, The victim did not wish to file a criminal complaint, saying that the defendant is like a brother to him and his wife and they also go to the same church — and he doesn’t want him to suffer because he loves him as much as he loves his sister.

Officers went to the defendant’s residence to arrest him but he wasn’t there.

Several police officers were called for backup and they searched for the defendant, to no avail.

Police located the defendant’s sister (the mother of the two girls the victim scolded) and brought her in to the police station for questioning.

The sister told police that the victim had told her about her two children stealing items from the store on two separate occasions. The victim works at the store.

The second stealing incident by the girls took place one day prior to the alleged assault.

The sister said her brother (defendant) overheard her talking to the victim and that was how he knew about the scolding incident.

She said they had a verbal argument prior to the assault incident, and that her brother was allegedly drunk. The defendant asked his sister for the reason why she tried to hide the incident from him.

The sister lied and pretended she was trying to get advice from a neighbor or church member about what she must do with her children. But the defendant became angry with her and accused her of lying to him and that she also didn’t want to listen to him and take his advice. At this point, the defendant allegedly started to act violently towards his sister and her children.

According to the sister, the defendant was very angry and he accused her (sister) of having a secret relationship with the neighbor (victim) which caused shame to their family. The sister said her brother was acting strange and he said that he would kill the victim before he killed her (his sister).

When the sister saw that the defendant had gone to the victim’s house, she immediately ran to her neighbor’s house and asked for help.  She then left her neighbor’s house and ran towards the trees that led to a family-members’ residence and stayed there until her other friend came and picked her up.

The sister further told investigators that this is not the first time her brother has accused her of hiding things her children did from him. This is also not the first time her brother accused her of having a secret relationship with the victim.

It was not until last month police were able to apprehend Osofialevaiofagalele, during a traffic stop for speeding. The defendant was the driver of the vehicle.

During the traffic stop, officers discovered that there was an active warrant from last year under Osofialevaiofagalele’s name. They also discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance inside his pocket during the body search.

The defendant was Mirandized where he stated he understood and refused to make a statement to officers regarding the glass pipe and the alleged assault case from last year.