Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On February 21, 2025, a police officer contacted the Tafuna Police Substation and reported that a female allegedly stole a vehicle from a victim in Malaeloa.

The suspect was later apprehended and charged with Count 1: Tampering in the Second Degree, a class A misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment not to exceed one year, of not more than $1,000, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $4,000.

The court affidavit stated that on Feb. 21st, at about 8:00 a.m., an officer (later identified as the reporter) contacted the TPS requesting assistance in locating a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was allegedly taken by Carolaine Purcell (later identified as the suspect) from Futiga the previous night.

According to the reporter, the victim contacted him around 10:00 p.m. on Feb. 20th that the suspect had stolen his vehicle from Futiga. He explained that while he was talking to one of his friends suddenly someone took off with the vehicle and he saw that it was Purcell.

The affidavit also stated that the reported missing vehicle is registered to the Federation Internationale De Football Association (FIFA) for whom the victim’s father works. The victim was in possession of the vehicle with permission from his father, at the time it was taken.

Authorities put out an APB on the stolen vehicle while they did an inspection of the areas where it was last seen. They also visited the suspect’s residence in Mapusaga, where the suspect’s family informed the officers of specific areas where the suspect usually hangs out.

Police visited one of the areas in Nu’uuli and found the suspect at a residence where she was sweeping the house. The suspect was informed of the said matter and seemed confused when asked about the stolen vehicle.

The suspect was detained and transported to the TPS for further investigation. When they left the area where the suspect was located (behind the Coconut Point Gas Station) in Nu’uuli, the officers spotted the stolen vehicle parked across from the road behind the Nu’uuli Methodist Church.

The vehicle matched the license plate and description of the vehicle that had been reported. The officers contacted the reporter who then contacted the owner of the missing vehicle and the vehicle was returned to the owner.

Upon arrival at the TPS, the suspect was Mirandized to which she understood and agreed to make a statement.

According to the suspect, she claimed that she had no idea how the vehicle got to Nu’uuli. When asked about her whereabouts the previous night, she claimed that she was with her boyfriend at home. However, the boyfriend was nowhere to be found.

The officers spoke with the victim and according to the victim, he claimed that he went to Futiga to his friend’s house around 4:00 p.m. on Feb. 20th and when he got there, he noticed the suspect in front of his friend’s house. He stated he knows the suspect “from here and there” but is not close to her. He then hopped out of the vehicle while it was still on but the keys were in his pocket.

It wasn’t long after he had been talking with his friend when they both noticed that the vehicle was moving. They also saw that it was the suspect who was driving and he ran towards the vehicle to try and stop it but the suspect sped off. The victim stated that he had to walk home to Malaeloa from Futiga and didn’t say anything to anyone at home until 10:00 p.m. when his family noticed that the vehicle wasn’t home.

He then reached out for help in locating the missing vehicle. It was also mentioned that this is not the first time that the suspect had taken a vehicle from the family of the victim and took off with it.

The suspect was booked and confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

The suspect is identified as a 26-year-old U.S National.