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One member of alleged burglary team arrested — no word on the juvenile involved

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Faavili Mose is now in custody after he was arrested last month on the allegation that he was involved in the burglarizing two stores in the Tafuna area between January and February of this year. During his arrest, cops discovered drugs in his possession.

The government has filed two separate criminal cases against Mose.

In the first case, Mose, is charged with two counts of first-degree burglary; two counts of stealing; one count of first-degree attempted burglary; and one count of conspiracy to commit burglary in the first degree — all class C felonies — punishable by imprisonment of up to 7 years, a fine up to $5,000, or, pursuant to A.S.C.A 46.2101, a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of said crime, up to a maximum of $20,000 for each count.

He is also facing two counts of third-degree property damage, a class A misdemeanor.

In the second case, Mose is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, punishable by imprisonment terms from 5-10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.

Bail is set at $25,000 and the preliminary hearing is next week.

THE CASE

On the morning of Jan. 28, 2022, police received two reports of stores being broken into and burglarized by an unknown individual in the Tafuna area.

The first call, according to the government, came from the victim, the owner of the Kim & L Store in the Tafuna area, who told police that she could hear someone trying to break into her store. She said her family was asleep when she heard banging from the back side of the store, so she got up to see what was going on.

The victim said when she opened the back door, she saw a male individual trying to pry open the back part of her store, which is closed off with metal bars screwed into the cement to prevent break-ins.

She said although the culprits damaged some of the rebar, nothing was taken. She added that a couple who lives nearby saw the attempted break-in and yelled at the men, which caused them to flee.

Officers responded to the call and interviewed the owner and her husband, as well as witnesses, the couple who live behind the store, regarding the alleged incident. One of the witnesses gave the name of one of the two males who were part of the alleged attempted break-in.

One week after the first report came in, the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) received a phone call from another store owner, claiming that two men broke the front door to his grocery store — in the same area as the first reported incident.

The second victim’s report was similar to the first reporter’s account. Only this time, the two males broke-in and stole items from his store and his office.

He said he looked at his laptop — which had the feed from the surveillance camera — and saw two males, with covered heads, pulling at the store’s front door. The culprits also broke off the store’s exterior surveillance camera from where it was mounted and left with it. Police viewed the video footage and observed two males grabbing the front door and pulling on it, before breaking it wide open and then entering the premises.

Police interviewed the store owner and his family, along with four other people who lived around the area who had come out to help the victims.

According to one witness, she heard dogs barking and when she came out to see why, she saw two men breaking the glass window of the store, located across the street from where she, her husband, and their two children reside.

The victim showed police the surveillance video, which recorded two men with rocks approaching the store and breaking the glass window, before reaching in and taking stuff.

Investigators found broken glass at the scene, as well as a trail of blood, which the store owner said belonged to one of the alleged burglars. The victim said the damage to the window was $350, and the two men took off with several items from the store.

Information provided by several witnesses revealed that one of the suspects in both burglaries is a man named Vesi. Vesi’s full name is Faavesi Mose, the defendant in this case.

Witnesses provided police with the location where Mr. Mose lives and his contact information.

A few weeks passed before Faavesi Mose was contacted by police, whereby he admitted that he, with a juvenile friend broke in, or attempted to break in, to both stores for the sole purpose of stealing.

Mose was brought into the TPS for questioning. His juvenile companion was also brought in for questioning in the presence of his aunt.

Mose told police that he and juvenile friend were drinking near the ocean, when the juvenile asked him if they could rob Kim & L Store, located not far from where they were. Mose said he told his friend they wouldn’t be able to get in, because the store is secured with metal, but his friend said he knew a way.

According to Mose, they first went to Kim & L store and attempted to break in; however, they were chased away by the owner and a couple who live behind the store. Mose said that after they left the area and went back to finish their beer before they went home the night.

One week later, Mose and his juvenile friend were back at the same location, drinking beer. After their drinking session, they decided to attack the second store. The items they stole from the second store were sold to one of their friends for beer and food.

It’s not clear at this time whether the juvenile suspect is charged in this case.

Before Mose was transported to the TPS for questioning, he was patted down for weapons and drugs. At that time, cops discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance inside Mose’s front right pocket. Also discovered was a small stamp-sized baggie containing a green leafy substance.

When questioned about the drugs found on his possession, Mose told investigators that the glass pipe was a gift from a friend to use for his own personal use. The baggie containing marijuana leaves, he explained was from another friend, a taxi driver, who gave him the baggie to give to another person.