Man allegedly attacks two men near carnival grounds

A man who had just allegedly assaulted another man is being accused of hitting a second person on the head with a pipe near the boat ramp at the carnival grounds of the Fishing Base in Garapan Sunday night.

The second victim, who sustained serious head injuries, identified the suspect through Facebook as John W. Rasiang, 38.

Melvin Tudela sustained a suffered a 3-centimeter laceration in the back of his head and was taken to the Commonwealth Health Center.

Rasiang was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Susupe for assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and disturbing the peace. Bail was initially set at $10,000 cash. He was set to appear for a bail hearing in the Superior Court yesterday afternoon.

Detective Jonathan Decena stated in his report that a police officer was doing a routine check at the carnival grounds on Sunday at 10:49pm when a man informed her about an assault and battery incident near the boat ramp.

When the officer checked the scene, she saw Tudela sitting on the bed of a pickup truck, holding his injured head. Tudela told the officer that a man had hit him on the head with a blunt object.

The officer saw the second victim, Herman Santos, who said the same suspect punched him on the nose, causing him to fall down. Medics arrived and transported Tudela to CHC.

A Saipan Mayor’s Office employee told the officer that he was standing by the boat ramp when he saw the suspect hit Tudela on the head thrice using an object that looked like a pipe.

The witness said the suspect then got into a black Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with license plate ACE-784 and drove away.

In an interview at CHC later that night, Tudela told a detective that he and his father-in-law Santos had arrived at the carnival at 9:30pm to meet with his wife and children.

Tudela parked his pickup truck near the boat ramp in front of the suspect’s truck. Twenty minutes later, as Tudela was away from the truck, he saw the suspect, also known as Nanka, walking toward Santos. The suspect allegedly punched Santos, prompting Tudela to run back and asked the suspect what his problem was.

The suspect pulled a pipe-like object and allegedly assaulted Tudela, causing Tudela to fall to the ground. The suspect hit his head thrice.

On Tuesday, two days later, Tudela called a detective and informed her that he had found the suspect’s photo on the Internet by using Facebook.

The detective identified the photo as shown by Tudela as Rasiang.

Detective Decena learned the following day that the Toyota Tacoma with license plate ACE-784 is registered to Rasiang.