Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend while her one-month old baby was in the vehicle with her — and later damaged his family property was arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant of the court.

The defendant, Joshua Siaumau, a.k.a Joshua Letuligasenoa made his initial appearance in District Court two weeks ago.

He is charged with one count of felonious restraint, one count of 1st degree property damage and 2nd degree assault; all class D felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000 ,or both, along with one count of endangering the welfare of a child and 2nd degree property damage, both class A misdemeanors.

Bail is set at $30,000.

THE CASE

On Dec. 08, 2021, a male individual contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) requesting immediate assistance regarding a man who was disturbing the peace at the residence of the caller’s girlfriend in Petesa by shattering the front sliding door window and garage windows with a metal instrument.

He was later identified as Joshua Siaumau, a.k.a Joshua Letuligasenoa, the defendant in this matter.

Several police officers responded to the call and met up with the caller’s girlfriend upon arrival at the scene. Officers observed the front sliding door window shattered as well as a window in the garage.

Several attempts were made by officers to speak to the caller’s girlfriend but she refused to cooperate and she walked away from officers and headed straight inside her father house’s in Petesa within the Siaumau complex.

As officers were about the leave the scene, TPS dispatcher informed officers that a female individual and her mother had walked into the TPS to report that she was allegedly assaulted by her ex-boyfriend, Joshua Letuligasenoa, at his family’s residence in Petesa.

The victim and her mother were interviewed by investigators regarding the alleged matter and according to the victim’s statement to investigators, she went to Letuligasenoa’s home in Petesa to pick up her one-month old baby.

When she arrived at her then boyfriend’s home in Petesa she and Letuligasenoa got into a verbal altercation as she sat in her vehicle after she told him she was breaking up with him. This led to Letuligasenoa using both his hands to shove the victim and then he picked up a rock and attempted to assault the victim with it.

However, luckily, the victim was able to evade him by shoving him causing him to miss her by inches resulting in Letuligasenoa striking the radio system and damaging it. Letuligasenoa then removed the key from the car ignition while at the same time fearing for her life the victim quickly closed the driver’s door which Letuligasenoa attempted to open but by then it was locked.

Letuligasenoa then ran towards the passenger side door that was unlocked and grabbed the victim by her hair dragging her from the driver’s side towards the passenger seat and then assaulting her with a closed fist about twenty times striking her facial area, back area and her upper body. The investigation also revealed that Letuligasenoa also broke the handle of the glove compartment.

The victim further stated to investigators that she tried to break free from her now ex-boyfriend but he held her down and continued to assault her. The victim stated that as the assault took place her one-month year old baby was in the back seat of the car, in a car seat.

She told investigators that she had seen with her own eyes that Letuligasenoa had guns in his possession. The victim also stated that after she was assaulted, her ex-boyfriend walked away from her and his grandmother approached her and gave her back the car keys and she drove off and went to her mother for assistance.

During the alleged assault, the victim told investigators that she went in and out of consciousness.

EMS paramedics arrived and treated the victim for minor injuries she sustained from the alleged assault. The victim refused to go to LBJ Hospital for further medical treatment.

On the same date, Dec. 08 around 11:40a.m, the male individual who first contacted police walked into the TPS with his girlfriend to file a report with the police against the defendant, Letuligasenoa.

According to the caller’s girlfriend, she was asleep when she heard a loud bang coming from within the house and when she got up to see what it was, her cousin Letuligasenoa started yelling profanities and then threatened her boyfriend stating that he was going to kill him, and Letuligasenoa started striking her bedroom with a hard object attempting to get inside the room.

Letuligasenoa immediately fled the scene with a metal instrument in his possession after he heard police being called.

According to the caller and his girlfriend, the rough estimate of the cost for the shattered front sliding window and the window in the garage was about $1,000.

The next morning, Dec. 09, investigators proceeded to the Siaumau residence in Petesa to locate the defendant, Letuligasenoa but were unsuccessful. They also proceeded to the defendant’s mother’s residence in Iliili in an effort to locate him but he was not at the house.

Few days later, Letuligasenoa was apprehended and taken into custody.