Ads by Google Ads by Google

Sibling rivalry? Man accused of assaulting adopted brother

Court Report logo
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting his adopted brother with a kitchen knife was arrested by police last week and he’s now being charged.

Kid Bartley made his initial appearance in District Court two weeks ago.

He is charged with a single count of 2nd degree assault, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Bail is set at $5,000.

THE ALLEGATION

On Nov. 1, 2021 at about 7:37p.m, a woman contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) and reported that her son assaulted her adopted son with a kitchen knife, causing bruises and scratches on the right side of her adopted son’s stomach.

The woman told police her son’s name, Kid Bartley, the defendant in this matter.

Cops arrived at the house and observed Bartley verbally arguing with his adopted brother on their front patio. While cops approached the scene, they observed Bartley walk away from the patio and go to the side of their house with both hands inside his jacket. Bartley was informed by cops to come back and he complied and walked back and was quickly placed inside a police unit for safety reasons while cops conducted their investigation.

While placing the defendant inside the police unit, officers detected the strong odor of alcohol on him. Bartley, his mother and adopted brother were interviewed by investigators at the TPS.

According to defendant’s mother’s statement, two weeks ago her son (defendant) came back from the States and she has noticed that her son was jealous of her adopted son (victim) who was taking care of her, and she stated that Bartley has assaulted her adopted son multiple times.

The defendant’s mother stated when she was watching TV, she heard her adopted son screaming so she went back and saw her son (defendant) running after her adopted son (victim) with a black handled kitchen knife. Furthermore, the mother stated that she saw Bartley punching her adopted son with a closed fist multiple times, which why she then contacted TPS for assistance.

When questioned by investigators, the victim said he was taking a shower and suddenly his brother (defendant) stabbed him with a knife on the right side of his stomach causing scratches on the right side of his stomach. He then ran outside for help and fell but the defendant was still after him, so he was trying to defend himself and scuffled with the defendant who hit his head with a closed fist and attempted to throw a stone at him.

When questioned by investigators after he was Mirandized, the defendant refused to provide a statement or any information about the matter. He was later booked and confined at the Territorial Correctional Facility.