KAPA‘A — Curtis Bupp Jr. was stabbed in the midsection with a butcher knife on May 15 at Kapa‘a’s Fujii Beach and says he feels “fortunate” to be alive. “First of all, I want to give my thanks to Wilcox
KAPA‘A — Curtis Bupp Jr. was stabbed in the midsection with a butcher knife on May 15 at Kapa‘a’s Fujii Beach and says he feels “fortunate” to be alive.
“First of all, I want to give my thanks to Wilcox Hospital,” Bupp said in an interview with The Garden Island Thursday. “Dr. Jordan and Dr. Serota, the staff was just unreal. I can’t give them enough praise. I’m at a loss for words.”
On the day of the incident, Bupp, 49, was celebrating the 21st birthday of his son, Curtis Bupp III, at the beach near their Kapa‘a home. The two estimate that roughly eight people were at the afternoon “get-together,” including friend Joshua Sesco, his girlfriend and their young child.
“I noticed that he (Sesco) and one of our other friends were making stink eyes at each other. I watched this and realized that it could maybe escalate to something different,” Bupp said.
“I pulled him off to the side and told him, ‘I don’t know what the problem is between you and my other friend, but just let it go. Just take off and we’ll hook up later in the evening.’”
“He told me that it was ‘all good’ and got in his car and drove away. Within five minutes, he comes back. There is no girlfriend and no baby. He gets out of the car and starts immediately walking over toward our little party.
“I stepped in between and said, ‘Josh, what the hell is going on? I asked you, please, go. I don’t want any trouble here.’
“He stabbed me, right then and there. He had already had the knife when he got out of the car. I saw nothing and was expecting nothing. The next thing I know, he stabbed me.”
Bupp described the weapon as a “butcher knife” and displayed his hands seemingly at shoulder-length apart to estimate its length.
Due to the size, shape and location of the wound, doctors had difficulty stopping the bleeding and, according to Bupp, administered five units of blood upon his admission to the emergency room.
He spent seven days in the hospital and, three weeks after the incident, the wound still appears fresh.
“The knife originally hit me in the belly, and if it had gone in right there, I’d be dead. The knife started to cut and go in, but it hit my hip bone,” Bupp said.
“It jumped over my hip bone and the whole blade went in, almost to my back. It came within one inch of coming out the other side of me.”
Bupp III said he did not see the incident occur, but heard that his father had been stabbed and saw Sesco attempting to escape in his car.
“I ran from my truck, jumped through the driver side window, and had my right arm wrapped around his neck. He had another knife in the car and was trying to stab me in the face.
“Right then, he slammed on the gas, and started flying down the road. I was hanging out the driver side window from my waist down like a Hollywood movie.
“We went about 20 or 30 yards down the road, and he slammed on the brakes. I saw the opportunity, so I let go of his wrist and grabbed the second knife and ripped it out of his hand by the blade.
“I saw another hand come in the window and grab him. Right then I knew he wasn’t getting away, and that’s all I wanted.”
By that time, police and paramedics had arrived on the scene. Bupp was taken in the ambulance and Bupp III in a squad car, both to Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
In his frustration, Bupp III punched a hole in a hospital wall and was later charged with fourth-degree criminal property damage.
A finger injury he sustained while grabbing the knife away from Sesco required stitches.
Hospital officials would only confirm that Bupp had been admitted, treated and released, declining to comment on dates, doctors, damage or extent of injuries.
Sesco, 29, of Kapa‘a, was arrested for attempted murder and is currently in Kaua‘i Police Department custody with bail set at $500,000.
His preliminary hearing has twice been postponed and is now set for June 25.
In the days following the incident, Police Chief Darryl Perry said that as Sesco attempted to leave the scene, he was injured as bystanders tried to restrain him.
Detective James Kurasaki declined comment when contacted by The Garden Island yesterday, saying only that he did not want to disrupt the case.
Phone calls to the offices of the Prosecuting Attorney and defense counsel Daniel Hempey were not returned.
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.
com
