Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 29-year-old man from Ottoville has been arrested on allegations that he burglarized a home in Tafeta and a store in Tafuna earlier this year. Kingston Alafoti made his initial appearance in District Court last month.

The government is charging Alafoti in two different cases.

FIRST CASE

Alafoti is charged with first-degree burglary and stealing, for an incident that reportedly occurred Jan. 10th at a Tafeta home.

Burglary is a class B felony punishable by 5-15 years in jail while stealing is a class C felony that carries a jail term of up to 7 years, a fine of up to $5,000, a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of said crime up to a maximum of $20,000, or both fine and imprisonment for each count.

According to court filings, on Jan. 10th, police were informed about a burglary that allegedly occurred 5 days earlier. The homeowner said he spent the whole week at his girlfriend’s house in Kokoland, when his house was burglarized.

The homeowner told police that when he got home to his house, it had been robbed and the back door was damaged.

A couple who lives nearby told police that a man with a tattoo on his neck and his left shoulder visited the house 3 times the same week before the victim returned home.

The tattooed man was later identified as Kingston Alafoti, the defendant.

Alafoti told police that he planned to break into the home after his friend who lived in the area told him that the homeowner was not at the house. He further admitted that he damaged the back door to gain entry into the home, where he stole several items that he sold to a friend.

The man told police that the estimated value of the stolen property is $800.

SECOND CASE

Alafoti is facing identical charges of burglary and stealing in connection with a Tafuna store robbery.

According to the government’s case, the storeowner reported to police that his business was burglarized and the culprit(s) gained entrance by prying open a nailed plywood at the back side of the store. Several items and money were removed from the store.

When police interviewed Alafoti about the robbery of the Tafuna store, he told investigators that he was aware of the Tafuna store burglary.

According to him, he and another man planned to break into the store on the night of Jan. 20th when they were engaged in a drinking session.

Court filings say Alafoti told police that his friend informed him about an open spot at the back of the store, where an air conditioning unit was to be mounted.

Alafoti admitted that he pulled both sides of the plywood out to gain entrance while his friend waited outside the store. Alafoti said he took items, including $370 dollars and $200 in coins, and he and his accomplice split it.