Ads by Google Ads by Google

Young couple comes to the aid of alleged victim of domestic violence

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A father of two accused of assaulting his wife after he became suspicious that she was having an affair is now behind bars after he was arrested during a traffic stop last month.

When cops arrested the 39-year-old defendant, they discovered illegal drugs in his possession.

The government claims that the suspect went to Vaitogi to pick up his wife who was spending the night with her parents. The suspect picked up his wife and he drove her to Fogagogo intending to assault her, however, the vehicle had a flat tire, which gave the victim the chance to exit the vehicle and run for her life.

To protect the identity of the victim, Samoa News is withholding the names of all parties involved.

The man appeared in Court last month for his initial appearance and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week.

The defendant is charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth) and unlawful possession of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment between 5-10 years, a fine of up to $20,000 or both; along with one count of attempted murder and one count of second degree assault, both class D felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

The court set bail at the amount of $20,000, however during the defendant’s initial appearance, the court decided to change the defendant’s bail status from $10,000 to “no bail” after discovering his illegal immigration status.

The defendant is a citizen of Samoa and his immigration ID expired last year.

THE AFFIDAVIT

On the evening of Oct. 12, the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) received a call about a possible domestic violence matter in the Fogagogo area. The young couple who contacted police for assistance stated on the phone that they spotted a woman alone on the road late at night crying for help saying her husband was planning to kill her.

The couple further stated woman’s face was bleeding and she needed immediate medical attention.

After interviewing the reporter, police transported the victim to the TPS for further investigation. No mention was made about any treatment rendered for the injuries mentioned by the young couple that reported the incident.

 The victim told police that she was spending the weekend at her parents’ home in Vaitogi with her two daughters when she received a phone call from her husband around 6p.m, asking her why a man, who is a bus driver, came to see her.

The victim told investigators that she told her husband she didn’t know why the man came to their house looking for her and she didn’t know the man very well.

However, the husband (defendant) continued to call his wife from around 6:30 p.m to 10:30 p.m — and a verbal argument ensued over the phone during one of the calls, according to the victim, and while their two daughters were listening.

At around 11.45 p.m, the defendant arrived at the victim’s parents’ house and instructed the victim to get inside the vehicle. She complied and the couple drove away heading to Fogagogo.

While on the road, the woman said they got into a verbal argument over rumors that she was having an affair with the man who had called, which she strongly denied.

She tried to calm things down and told her husband that there is no affair between her and anybody and she doesn’t know from where he got these rumors.

According to the victim, her husband was intoxicated at the time.

The argument escalated to a point where her husband punched her in the face twice while he was still driving, she said. Her husband was also speeding, and at the same time yelling profanities at her and threatening to kill her when they got to Fogagogo.

As the vehicle came to Maliu Mai, the victim said the vehicle had a flat tire and she took the opportunity to get out of the vehicle and run shouting for help.

As she was running for her life, she said she saw a car coming towards her slowly. She ran towards the vehicle, and pounded on the hood and window and crying for help. Inside was the young couple who called police.

When questioned by investigators, the victim stated that her husband assault her and threatened to kill her.

One week later on Oct. 18, a black pick-up was pulled over for a traffic violation and the driver was later identified as the defendant in this matter.

The defendant was patted down for weapons and contraband and during a body search, cops discovered two glass pipes containing a white crystalline substance inside the defendant’s pants pocket.

Cops also searched the defendant’s wallet and discovered a small stamp-sized baggie containing a green leafy substance.

The defendant was transported to the TPS where he was Mirandized and refused to make a statement.

The white crystalline substance found inside the glass pipe tested positive for meth; while, the green leafy substance found inside the defendant’s wallet tested positive for THC/ marijuana.