One more couple live to tell about how they were robbed on the Beach Road seawall at night.

The American man and his girlfriend, who have asked to withhold their names for fear of repercussions, were taking a leisurely stroll on the seawall last week when a man came out from nowhere and attacked them.

The man, who only wants to be identified as Ioane, said the incident happened so fast.

“We were just walking along the sea wall enjoying ourselves when all of a sudden a burglar grabbed my girlfriend’s hand,” he said.

“He was trying to get her purse and he did.

“Once he grabbed the purse, he pushed my girlfriend down and ran off with it.”

Ioane became angry and chased after the man.

With the help of a local, they were able to stop the robber as he tried to escape into the ocean. 

The police were called and the bag was luckily retrieved, along with all the woman’s personal belongings.

But the incident has left a bad taste on the mouth of the American.

“It’s so sad that incidents like this are happening too frequently now,” he said.

“Too many people have been reportedly hurt and/or attempted robbery at this location at night time,” he said. 

“Not only have there been robberies but people have been beaten on the sea wall. Also, there seems to be a much higher danger if one is a palagi.”

Ioane added that there is a stigma in Samoa that if you are a palagi, the robbers think you have money. 

“The Police need to weed these bad people from the seawall as they are giving Samoa a bad name,” he said.

“The sad thing is that at the day, any white person walking about at night time needs to either travel in a large group, or stay indoors. This is not the Samoa we want. Something needs to be done about this.”