HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Smackson Sawata was accused of attempting to stab a man with a kitchen knife before a woman blocked it with a car seat.
Guam Police Department officers responded to a disturbance at a homeless shelter in Dededo on Sunday night where they met with a man who accused Sawata, a 22-year-old resident of the shelter, of attempting to stab the man with a knife, according to a magistrate’s complaint filed in the Superior Court of Guam on Tuesday.
Before the police’s arrival, the victim heard yelling from Sawata’s room and the sound of things being thrown around. The victim then heard the sound of a woman yelling and explained to officers that Sawata lived in the room with his girlfriend and two children.
“The victim then inquired if everything was OK. The defendant stated, ‘Do you have a problem with me?'” the complaint stated.
Sawata then allegedly picked up a blue kitchen knife, walked toward the victim and pointed the knife at the victim and asked again if there was a problem.
“The defendant then motions the knife forward (at) a fast pace trying to stab the victim’s stomach area,” according to the complaint. Sawata’s girlfriend used a car seat to block the knife from reaching the victim, court documents stated.
Sawata, his girlfriend and their children then left the shelter and walked down the street.
Another witness told officers he saw Sawata swing a knife at the victim in a “slashing” manner and said that if it wasn’t for the car seat, the victim would have been “seriously injured,” the complaint stated.
Sawata’s girlfriend was later located and told police Sawata came home drunk, and he was upset because she didn’t cook dinner. The woman also said she saw Sawata holding a blue and silver knife, according to the complaint.
Officers found the knife in a jungle area, and the woman identified it as the same knife Sawata allegedly wielded when talking to the victim.
According to the complaint, Sawata was arrested about two hours after police arrived at the homeless shelter.
Sawata was charged with aggravated assault as a third-degree felony.
Sawata is detained at the Department of Corrections on $5,000 cash bail.
The Dededo police precinct on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, in Dededo.
