Man admits to deliberately punching and breaking louver in window
Six-month-old child lying near window miraculously uninjured By Samoa News staffreporters@samoanews.comPago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On January 17, 2026, a man walked into the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) to report that a domestic dispute had placed a young child at risk of serious injury. Alcohol was involved.The suspect was later 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 imprisonment and fine.The defendant was held without bail.(Samoa News has withheld the names of those involved to protect the identity of the minor in this case.)According to the court affidavit, filed in the District Court on Jan. 22, a man arrived at the FPS requesting assistance. The man was carrying a white plastic container filled with pieces of shattered louvered window glass.He told officers that another man who lived at the same rental residence had been drinking heavily and was causing a disturbance near the home. The two men were not related but resided at the same address.The reporter explained that earlier in the evening, he and the suspect had been drinking together outside the residence along with several other men. At some point, he went inside the house, and that is when he heard the suspect arguing loudly with his wife outside the home.The argument continued and escalated into a heated verbal confrontation. Moments later, the man claims he heard the sound of breaking glass. He immediately went outside to see what had happened and discovered that a louver had been shattered.The man told police that his six-month-old child had been lying on a blue net directly in front of the window where the glass fell.Concerned for his child’s safety and fearing that the situation could escalate further, he collected the broken glass and came directly to the FPS to report the incident and request police assistance.Police officers responded to the scene shortly after receiving the report.Upon arrival, officers observed the suspect seated beside the roadway near the residence. They also saw the reporter’s wife carrying their infant outside of the home. Officers checked on the child and determined that the infant was unharmed.The suspect was detained without incident and transported to the FPS for questioning. Officers noted that the suspect appeared intoxicated.On arrival at the station, officers observed that the suspect’s knuckles were bleeding. Photographs were taken to document the injuries and the damage caused to the window.During questioning, the suspect gave conflicting statements about what had occurred.He initially said that he had been involved in an argument with the other man, and later changed his statement and claimed that the argument had been with the man’s wife.When asked about the broken window, the suspect first claimed that the damage was accidental. He later admitted that he deliberately punched the louvered window from outside the residence.Due to the suspect’s level of intoxication, officers booked him later that evening and scheduled him to appear before the District Court.A follow-up investigation was conducted on Jan. 19th, by responding officers, who returned to the residence, where the reporter’s wife provided a voluntary statement to police and said that this was not the first time the suspect had caused problems after drinking.She stated that several men, including her husband and the suspect, had been drinking together in front of the house earlier, on the evening of the incident.According to her statement, approximately an hour later, the suspect asked his wife for money to purchase more beer. When she refused, the suspect became upset, and took their son — he began walking down the road away from the residence.Her husband, she claims called out to the suspect, instructing him to return to the house with his child. The suspect responded that it was none of the man’s business, and the two men began exchanging profanities and hostile remarks.The situation escalated as the suspect returned toward the house and attempted to fight the resident. Other men who were present at the residence intervened and attempted to separate the two men in order to prevent the fight from becoming physical.While the man (reporter) was standing inside the home, the suspect allegedly struck the louvered window from the outside. Court documents state that the suspect did so knowing that the resident’s young child was lying approximately one foot away from the window inside the house.After the window was shattered, the resident collected the broken glass and went to the police station to report the incident.Police also documented the scene, taking photographs to show the close distance between the point of impact and the child’s location, to illustrate the potential danger posed by the shattered glass.The suspect’s wife also provided a voluntary written statement to police, confirming what the reporting man’s wife had explained had happened.She added that when the argument between the two men began, she retrieved her child and went upstairs inside the home. She said she did not witness the window being broken. A short time later, she came back downstairs and asked her husband what had happened. He told her that he had punched the louvered window.No injuries were reported as a result of the incident, and the infant was not harmed.The defendant is identified as a 25-year-old citizen of Samoa.[Editor’s Note: An affidavit is a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation for use as evidence in court. It is not a court decision. Under local law, defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty by the court. ra]Section: Local NewsTags: court report
2026-02-19 19:02:32