Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On December 22, 2024, a female individual called the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) to report a male, who allegedly assaulted her father and caused a disturbance.

The suspect fled the scene but was later apprehended and charged with:

Count 1: Public Peace Disturbance, a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both; and,

Count 2: Assault in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000, or both.

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

According to the court affidavit, on Dec. 22nd, at approximately 7:31 p.m., a female (reporter) contacted the FPS requesting assistance in the removal of Mikey Tipoti (later identified as the suspect) from their residence.

The reporter alleged that the suspect assaulted both her father and her brother-in- law. The suspect was also shouting profanities and making unreasonable noises.

Upon arrival at the scene, police officers met up with the reporter in front of her house where she briefed them regarding the incident. She verbally stated that the suspect was mad at her father for always trying to wave down the rental car that the alleged suspect was using at the time.

The suspect allegedly approached her father (victim #1) and stood right in front of  him — face to face — and clenched his fist in an intimidating manner as if he was attempting to strike her father in the face, all this while shouting profane words at her father.

Furthermore, the suspect got louder and more proactive showing signs of physical aggression that made victim #2 intervene, scuffling with the suspect which that led to the situation escalating to the point where the surrounding neighbors were alerted and authorities were contacted.

Following this, the suspect fled in a rental car, which the officers were able to cath up with the vehicle in front of the StarKist company, where they stopped the vehicle and apprehended the suspect.

The suspect was transported to the FPS where he was booked and escorted to the Tafuna Correctional Facility to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

According to the affidavit, Victim #2 was later interviewed over the phone to get a clearer and more concise understanding of what happened.

Victim #2 stated that it started on a Tuesday the same week of the incident. He explained that their family was part of the village curfew enforcers. He said that the suspect and other unknown individuals would bump their music up, in a disturbingly loud volume, and screech their tires in front of him and his father-in-law during the village’s curfew time.

He also claimed that some days while enforcing curfew the vehicle that the suspect would operate would accelerate towards him and then redirect away from him at the last second, nearly hitting him. The victim informed the officers that this behavior continued for several days until eventually they were approached by the suspect that Saturday evening.

Victim #2 gave a detailed account of what occurred that night and stated that he and his father-in-law were decorating their road for Christmas lights. All was going well until he saw a man approaching his father-in-law about a few feet away from where he was standing. He said “he didn’t pay no mind to it, thinking it was a pedestrian passing through,” until he heard the suspect shouting profanities at his father-in-law, while balling his fists and posing in a manner as if he was attempting to strike his father-in-law in his face.

The suspect then threw the first punch but it landed on his (victim#2) hand when he arrived right in time to block it. He then scuffled with the suspect to the point where the surrounding families were involved in breaking up the altercation that erupted.

(The affidavit does not identify the defendant’s nationality.)