Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On September 27, 2024, a male individual contacted the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) to report his neighbor had allegedly threatened him with a machete.

The suspect was apprehended and charged with Count 1: Assault in the Third Degree ( As a C. Misd.), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to fifteen days, a fine of $300, or both.

There was no bail stated in the affidavit for the defendant.

According to the affidavit, on September 27th, at about 8:44 p.m., a male individual contacted the FPS regarding his neighbor who came at him with a machete at their apartment.

Police officers responded to the call arriving on the scene at around 8:50 p.m. At the scene, they were waved down by a male individual who later introduced himself as the reporter. Officers also observed three male individuals and a female individual sitting in front of the Taumafai Inc. store. The reporter (also the victim) pointed at one of the individuals and stated that he was the suspect known as Fengtao Yu.

According to the victim, the neighbor (suspect) talked to his wife and told her they couldn’t sleep due to their (victim’s) son making too much noise.

The victim explained that he got off work at around 7:30 p.m., and when he got home his wife told him about what happened. He then went and knocked on the suspect’s door and the suspect opened the door and asked him why he was bothering them. The victim said that they got into a verbal argument and that’s when the suspect grabbed the machete and came after him.

Upon arrival at the FPS, Fengtao Yu was Mirandized and agreed to give a written statement.

According to the suspect, “They were making loud noises again and he went outside to remind them to lower their voices.” The suspect also said that “he was drunk and started to say dirty words to me with bad attitude.”

He then admitted that he couldn’t stand it any more, so that’s the reason why he went downstairs and grabbed the machete to scare him.

Fengtao was booked and transported to the Tafuna Correctional Facility for confinement to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

The defendant is identified as a 31-year-old citizen of China, and the victim is identified by the name of Pou Finau, a citizen of Samoa.