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Man allegedly assaults girlfriend and then threatens his own sister

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ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting his girlfriend and later threatening his sister and her boyfriend with a machete is now in custody after he was arrested two weeks ago.

The defendant, Tiaoalii Tili made his initial appearance in Court two weeks ago.

He is charged with two counts of 2nd-degree assault involving domestic violence, a felony, along with one count of 3rd-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor.

Bail is set at $15,000.

THE ALLEGATION

The government alleges that on the night of May 1, 2022, a woman reported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) that her daughter had been abused and assaulted by her boyfriend after he allegedly grabbed her on the neck and started to strangle her using his left hand causing minor scratches on both sides of her neck and then he slapped her with his open palm on her facial area.

The boyfriend was later identified as Tiaoali’i Tili, the defendant in this matter.

Officers who responded to the call interviewed the reporter and the victim about the alleged abuse and she provided a verbal and a written statement about what happened.

According to the victim, it was on Sunday, May 1 in the afternoon when she received a phone call from her boyfriend, the defendant, who asked if her family had supper (umu) for Sunday, and she replied yes. The victim further stated that she was surprised that the defendant showed up with food at her residence.

Then as she was taking the food, the defendant asked her if she was pregnant and if she was cheating on him. The victim replied no, but suddenly her boyfriend (defendant) slapped her on her face and grabbed her by the neck and started to strangle her using his left hand which caused her minor scratches on both sides of her neck.

She then defended herself and ran back to her parent’s house holding her neck and told her dad that she had been choked by her boyfriend, Tili.

Officers proceeded to Leone to locate the defendant at his residence but he was nowhere to be found.

One day later on May 2, around 5:28pm in the afternoon, the LPS received a phone call from a woman seeking police assistance saying her brother, Tili, the defendant in this matter threatened her and her boyfriend with a machete at their residence in Sogi, Leone.

Police officers responded to the matter at Sogi and met up with the reporter and her boyfriend and transported them to the LPS for questioning.

According to the reporter, her brother, the defendant, walked up to her boyfriend and called him out saying “e ke ula mai ia ke a’u” which translates to “are you teasing me?”.

The defendant yelled at his sister’s boyfriend saying he was going to grab his gun and shoot him with it. The boyfriend ran outside of the living room where the defendant’s 2-year-old niece (his sister’s daughter) was watching T.V.

The defendant’s sister saw the defendant holding a machete inside their home, while her boyfriend ran out the house and the defendant chased him with the machete swinging it and almost hitting him.

The reporter ran towards her brother (defendant) to calm him down but she almost got hit by the machete as well, which was he was swinging back and forth.

The reporter further stated that she pushed her boyfriend back to prevent him from getting hit by the machete, and she also moved out of the way from where the defendant was swinging the machete.

A neighbor heard the defendant yelling profane words and telling his sister’s boyfriend to get away from the house or he would die. The boyfriend ran away and also contacted police for assistance.

Officers proceeded to Leone in an effort to locate the defendant but he was nowhere to be found. Officers approached the defendant’s father and informed him about his son’s involvement in a reported matter.

Around 9p.m on the same date, the defendant walked into the LPS for further investigation where he was Mirandized and later waived his rights and wanted to make a statement regarding his involvement in the matter with his sister and her boyfriend.

According to the defendant’s statement, he admitted that he swung the machete at his sister and her boyfriend. The defendant also confirmed that he used profane language.

He was booked at LPS and transported to the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF).