Ads by Google Ads by Google

Man charged with assault in domestic abuse case now in custody

Court Report logo
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man charged for assaulting his girlfriend is now in custody after he was arrested by police last week.

Seko Fiame made his initial appearance in District Court where he faced charges of 1st degree assault, a class B felony, punishable by term of imprisonment of not less than five years, nor more than fifteen years.

Fiame’s bail is set at $30,000.

THE ALLEGATION

The government alleges that on Jan. 1, 2022 about 11:30a.m, investigators at the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) received a call from the Fagatogo Police Central regarding a domestic incident where a man assaulted his girlfriend by punching her in the left eye before he slapped her back and caused her to faint.

Several police officers responded to the call and met up with the woman who reported the matter at the LBJ Hospital. Police were also briefed by the doctor who examined the victim’s injuries. Injuries were detailed, and police were also told by the doctor that the victim could possibly go blind in the injured.

Police also interviewed the woman who reported the matter, who is the victim’s sister. According to the victim’s sister, she found out that EMS had transported her sister to the LBJ Emergency Room for her injuries. She then went to the hospital and saw her injured sister lying in a hospital bed.

Investigators interviewed the victim at LBJ. According to the victim’s statement, she and her boyfriend were fixing her boyfriend’s father’s grave then they went and bought beer. When they got home from the store her brother came by and chilled with them.

Everything was okay and they were just talking and all of a sudden her boyfriend (defendant) stood up and told her to have fun with her brother he’s going to sleep. The defendant went in the house and started slamming the door and throwing things around the house

The victim stated to the investigator her boyfriend’s actions got her attention, she then came in the house to see what was going on and that is when her boyfriend started arguing with her. The defendant’s mother came back from church and heard them arguing and chased them out of the house. They came out and the defendant tried to push her and she pushed him back.

This is when the alleged assault occurred — where the defendant punched the victim in her left eye with a closed fist then slapped the back of her neck causing her to faint.

The victim stated that when she woke up the defendant was trying to pick her up from the ground, and she stood up and pushed him away and started walking to the front of the road.

The victim further stated to investigators that all she could remember was blood flowing down her face while she was walking to the front of the road away from the house. The next thing she knew she was in the Emergency Medical Services unit.

After interviewing the victim, investigators went to the defendant’s house to locate him where he was apprehended and transported to the TPS for further investigation.

According to the defendant’s verbal statement, he and the victim were fixing the victim’s father’s grave, when they finished up with their work they went and bought them beers to relax.

He stated that everything was okay until the victim’s brother showed up and then the victim started getting mad at him because the victim did not agree with what he said to her.

The defendant also stated that the victim wanted her brother to stay with them, but he said no because he cannot let more people live at their house. The defendant stated after they argued he went to sleep. He woke up around midnight and the victim was still drinking outside. He went out to her and asked for his son and the victim went off on him.

According to the defendant’s statement, it was the victim who started the fight by throwing punches at him. He also stated they started pulling each other’s hair, then he slapped the victim and hit her left eye then she fell to the ground. He also helped her up and was shocked to see her left eye was swollen so he stood her up and took her in the room and placed ice on her eye. Later that morning, the victim was transported to the hospital.