$20K bail for man accused of assault with dangerous weapon

The Superior Court has imposed a $20,000 cash bail on a man accused of threatening another man with a knife in a fit of rage.

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph Camacho imposed Friday a $20,000 cash bail on Fares Nimer, who is facing charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault, and disturbing the peace.

After the bail hearing, Camacho remanded Nimer back to Department of Corrections custody and ordered him to return to court for a preliminary hearing next month.

According to court documents, two police officers were on routine patrol at around 12:16am on Thursday, March 14, and were heading south on Beach Road in Garapan when they saw a man, later identified as Nimer, walking north along the road.

Police made a U-turn to check on Nimer and as they were approaching, one of the officers rolled down his window and heard shouting from what sounded like a man.

As he got closer, police observed Nimer holding a shiny object walking toward another male individual, later identified as Perry Tudela.

Tudela saw the police vehicle and ran to it shouting that Nimer had what he described as a “machete” and was allegedly threatening to kill him.

That same day, at around 3pm, police met with Tudela at the Commonwealth Health Center where he was admitted for a follow-up interview.

According to Tudela, he and his common-law wife had just left CHCC and had gone to Garapan Fishing Base for fresh air. When they stepped out of their vehicle, they heard a man shouting and when Tudela turned, he said he saw Nimer walking toward him and shouting in the Chuukese language with what he thought was a machete in his hand.

Tudela said he told Nimer to go away and leave them alone but Nimer allegedly ignored him.

When Nimer got closer, Tudela said he saw that it was a knife in his hand and Nimer allegedly swung the knife at him. That’s when he noticed that a police car had arrived.

According to Tudela’s wife, she and her husband had just gotten down at Garapan Fishing Base when they heard a male voice shouting. She said she turned and saw a man walking toward them and shouting at them while holding a knife.

The wife said she then got back into the vehicle and saw the man swing a knife at Tudela.

At around 12:20am the next morning, police procured one Little Cook brand kitchen knife with a blue and gray handle measuring approximately 12 ¾ inches.

On the same date, at around 4:50pm, police met with Nimer at the Department of Corrections for a follow up interview.

According to Nimer, he started drinking by himself around 12pm on Wednesday March 13, and he does not remember anything that happened after 6pm. He told police, however, that he did have a knife with him that he used to pick coconuts earlier that day.