HILLSBORO, Ore.- On November 1, 2019, a Washington County jury found Tasi Autele, also known as Brian Mulivai Autele, guilty of third-degree assault. On November 13, 2019, Judge Ricardo Menchaca sentenced Mr. Autele to two years in prison. Senior Deputy District Attorney John Gerhard prosecuted the case.

On August 26, 2017, the victim and defendant attended a gathering at a mutual friend’s house in a rural area of Hillsboro, Oregon. The gathering continued without incident into the early morning hours of the next day.

At some point during the gathering, the victim left the main group and ventured into a secluded field. Mr. Autele joined the victim in the field and began talking to the victim. Mr. Autele then asked the victim if he fights, to which the victim indicated he had wrestling experience from high school. Mr. Autele then came up from behind the victim, put him in a chokehold, and told the victim this was a fight, not a wrestling match.

The victim lost consciousnesses a short time later. While he was unconscious, Mr. Autele repeatedly struck the victim in the head and face, causing numerous fractures to his nose, orbital socket, and skull. The party hosts happened to come across the victim’s unconscious body and saw Mr. Autele standing over the victim. The victim was rushed to OHSU where he required extensive medical attention.

Mr. Autele fled the scene after the unprovoked attack but was captured by Washington County Sheriff’s deputies a short time later.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office would like to acknowledge the work of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office including Detective Dawn Vandehey for her work on this case.

In addition to his prison sentence, the defendant was also ordered to pay more than $4,000 in restitution and a $3,000 compensatory fine to the victim for future medical expenses. He was also ordered to have no contact with his victim, ordered to undergo anger counseling and will be under post-prison supervision for two years upon his release.