Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Two men accused of stealing and burglary are now behind bars after being arrested by police last month pursuant to an arrest warrant from the Court.

The two men, Mauga Fifita and Edward Eary Jr, a.k.a. ‘EJ’ made their initial appearances in District Court, presiding was Acting Associate Justice Elvis P. Patea.

The two defendants are each charged with one count of stealing and one count of burglary, both class C felonies, punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years, a $5,000 fine, 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, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Bail for each defendant is set at $15,000.

Both men have waived their rights for a PX and their cases are bound over to High Court.

THE CASE

The government alleges that on July 6, 2020 around 6:12 p.m a man from Leone requested the Leone Police Substation (LPS) for assistance regarding an apartment he owns in Leone that had been ransacked and burglarized by some unknown individuals.

Several police officers responded to the call and met up with the man, who had requested police assistance.

Police investigation discloses that at an unknown date and time, the owner of the apartment, on behalf of the tenant, owner of the items, said the apartment was allegedly broken into by unknown individuals, who allegedly stole several items, including a 40-inch black Samsung Smart television; Cannon Rebel T-6 camera set; Nike running shoes; Sketchers running shoes, two Samoan fine mates, a laptop and several essential items.

In an interview with police, according to the victim, he arrived at his residence on July 6th, 2020 around 5:45 p.m and found that his place had been burglarized. He told police that the last time he was at his home was on July 2nd, 2020, which was four days ago and he had spent the weekend with a family in Maloata and Fagatogo.

The victim stated to police that he has no idea who came into his apartment and stole his belongings.

Police then turned to neighbors to gather more information, including taking a woman and her son to the LPS for questioning. The son was interviewed in the presence of the mother.

The son told police that on July 6th, he was dropped off at his home by the Leone Aumaga because he was caught walking on the road during curfew hours. It was at 4 a.m while inside the house watching TV,  he heard a car pull up in front of his house.

He identified the truck as Valu’s truck, and “EJ” jumped out from the truck and had in his hands what appeared to be Samoan fine mats, which the witness said EJ told him to hold onto, before EJ left and walked towards his home.

EJ was later identified as Edward Eary Jr who lives about 20-30 yards from the witness’s house, and about 40 yards from the victim’s house.

He also stated that on the same day he took the fine mats to Valu’s house around 7 a.m.

Police officers tried to locate EJ, and then Valu on the same day — both were not home at the time.

The next morning, July 7th, the case was then transferred from the Patrol Division to the Criminal Investigation Division for further investigation. However, the case was later forwarded to the Vice and Narcotics & K-9 Unit for continued investigation.

On July 7th, both the witness and his mother were brought into the LPS for a second interview with investigators of the Vice and Narcotics Unit, regarding their statements given to the police officers, who conducted the initial interview.

The witness’ written statement, apparently differed in certain details from his initial interview. According to the witness’ written statement, he was specifically asked by EJ to hide the fine mats at his house, and if asked who owned them, to just tell them it belonged to Valu. Later in the morning, he met up with Valu, who told him to take the fine mats he got from EJ and give it to him. The witness wrote he went to his house and got the fine mats and took them straight to Valu’s home.

The witness’ mother also provided a written statement to investigators of what she knew about the matter, including that she asked her son who owns the fine mat and her son told her that it was from EJ.

On the same day, investigators were able to locate Valu at his house and transported him to the LPS for questioning. Valu’s full name is Tafaevalu Kipasa Mano.

According to Mano’s statement to investigators, he and EJ have known each other since they were young. And despite EJ later serving time in TCF for burglary, and his father not allowing EJ in their home, Mano and EJ continued to be friends.

He said on Sunday, July 6, he received a call from EJ asking for a ride to Mapusaga to drop off “ie toga” at his uncle’s house and he would pay for the gas.

Valu stated that he went with EJ and some other kids to drop off the fine mats in Mapusaga, where a transaction transpired —  a man took the fine mats and gave EJ $100. EJ then gave him $20 for gas. Later on that day, EJ came by his house and gave him some items.

On July 10th, Valu returned a power washer to the LPS saying that EJ also gave it to him for payment for fixing his dad’s car. This particular power washer was taken from another burglary case in Leone allegedly involving EJ. The power washer was later returned to the owner.

(EJ is also charged in this separate case).

On July 7th, a man from Futiga contacted the LPS informing them about some information he knew about a burglary in Leone.

The man further told police that he had some stuff that EJ sold him and he wanted police to visit his home in Futiga so that he could give them the stuff because he believes it was stolen.

Police arrived at the man’s house and retrieved the items, which seem to match certain items stolen from the apartment in Leone  —  one pair of Nike shoes (blue color); two fine mats; a clock and a black pouch with a Cannon camera with accessories.

The next day, July 8, EJ was picked up by investigators in front of his home in Leone and was arrested pursuant a separate warrant from the High Court. He was transported to the LPS for questioning.

When asked about the burglary case, EJ shook his head, and later chose to not make any statement to police after he was warned of his constitutional rights.

EJ was booked and detained at the TCF, while police continued the investigation.

On the morning of July 9, investigators went to EJ’s home and met up with his mother, who gave police consent to search their house after she was informed about the reason for police presence.

EJ’s mother showed investigators EJ’s room and investigators found and confiscated a 40-inch Samsung flat screen TV; one Apple iPad; a laptop; one external drive; one digital slave flash and a black suitcase.

All these items were later confirmed to belong to the victim-tenant of the apartment in Leone.

Two days later, another person of interest, Mauga Fifita (co-defendant) was brought into the LPS for questioning.

Fifita told investigators that he was with EJ on the night EJ broke into the victim’s house in Leone. He only pulled security, while EJ broke into the house. Later on, they went to Mapusaga and sold the stolen items to another man using Valu’s car.

According to the government, they will also be looking at those who received stolen items.