Man Who Eluded Police is Behind Bars

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A man from Samoa whose immigration ID expired six years ago was finally nabbed by police earlier this month after managing to get away from officers who were chasing him on foot, and in vehicles, on 7 previous occasions.

Falaniko Lasalo is charged in two separate cases, one for stealing and burglary and another for resisting arrest.

During his initial appearance in District Court last week,  an immigration agent told the court the defendant ‘s ID card expired in 2014 and there’s no record that it was ever renewed.

The stealing and burglary charges against Lasalo stem from an incident in March this year where a home was ransacked and several valuable items were stolen.  A witness told police the defendant told him he and two other men were responsible.

On April 23rd an arrest warrant was issued for Lasalo.

According to court documents since May 4th up to August 7th when Lasalo was finally nabbed,  he had been spotted and chased by police 7 times at Lepuapua,  Pavaiai,  Tafeta, and Ottoville.  But he managed to get away.

On the day before his arrest, an off duty police officer saw Lasalo at Aoloau.  As the officer was parking his vehicle, Lasalo saw him and immediately jumped down a cliff to avoid being arrested. Backup officers and the off duty policeman walked down the cliff to track where he went. But  because of rain and fog the search was called off and Lasalo was nowhere to be seen.

On the morning of August 7th, an officer on his way to work and was stopped for road construction saw Lasalo in Pavaiai. But before the officer could do anything the  defendant saw him and ran away.   He led police on a chase from Pavaiai to Mapusaga and  Faleniu then he disappeared.

That afternoon he was seen in the Iliili area near the commissioner’s residence and police chased after him while he ran in between houses near the golf course area.

When Lasalo got near an abandoned home, he ran in but Officer Pearson rammed through the wall and scuffled with the defendant, who kept elbowing  the cop the whole time.  This time he wasn’t able to get away but was handcuffed and taken into custody.

Lasalo is quoted in court filings saying this is the 8th time where he had been chased by police. He said he ran away because he didn’t want to go to  the Territorial Correctional Facility.

If convicted he would be spending nearly 20 years at the TCF.

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