Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On February 1, 2024 at about 6:30 am, a concerned mother contacted the Tafuna Police Station (TPS) to report that her brother was disturbing the peace and frightening her children at her family home in the village of Leone.

Count 1: Private Peace Disturbance (DV), a class C misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for fifteen (15) days, a fine of $300 but not less than $150, or both.

Count 2: Property Damage in the Second Degree (DV), a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one (1) year, a fine of $1,000 but not less than $150, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $1,000.

(Samoa News withheld the names of those involved to protect the identities of the minors in this case)

According to the affidavit, a mother of three contacted TPS and reported that the defendant, who is her brother, was disturbing the peace at her family home in the village of Leone.

Police officers responded to the reported call and made contact with the reporter who is also the victim in this case. The concerned mother stated that about 5 am, her daughters ( ages 18, 16 & 5) were inside their bedroom in their towels getting ready for school. The defendant opened the sliding window from the outside and demanded her daughters to wake up. She explained that her 18 year-old daughter quickly closed and locked the window because she and her sisters were still in their towels.

An hour later, as the mother was inside her daughters bedroom to check if they were ready to go to school, she heard the defendant calling out her daughters names. The defendant then started hitting the window and yelling out profanities.

She stated her daughters were all in the room and were scared. Moreover, she heard the defendant striking the window and breaking the window glass. The defendant continued yelling profanities and then walked away.

The mother explained they were all alarmed and shaken up because this is not the first time the defendant has disturbed the peace at their family home.

She told police the defendant lives in his own house next door but when he gets angry, he comes over to her house and yells out profanities toward her daughters. She stated the defendant would also break things around their home when he is angry.

During the booking process, the police officer going through the defendant’s belongings to be listed on the form discovered alleged drug paraphernalia in the defendant’s bag. It was a brownish glass pipe partially shattered and it seems as if it was used. There was a burnt mark on the bottom of the glass pipe. The vice and narcotics unit was informed of the alleged paraphernalia discovered.

The defendant was confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility.

He is identified as a 47 year-old, U.S National.