The second day of the trial of Aaron Nakamoto, who allegedly stabbed two women in an affray started by an earlier confrontation, saw testimony by a woman who needed 100 stitches to treat her injuries.
The injured woman is Hanna Luepkes, 23, Waikoloa. She and her “close friend” Cary Ann Sugimoto, 23, Waikoloa, had gone out together to do grocery shopping, Luepkes said.
After shopping they went to Pueo’s Osteria and sat down at the bar, each drinking two glasses of red wine and half a shot of tequila over the three-hour break.
Then Luepkes said she saw Nakamoto, 34, waving and shouting at them. Earlier statements said Nakamoto wanted them to quiet down, although the bartender testified the women were not loud.
The night continued with no communication between Nakamoto and the women.
The two women finished their dinner and went to leave for the night. To exit the restaurant they had to pass near Nakamoto, who was near the door, Luepkes said.
Nakamoto was shouting at them as they went to leave, Luepkes said, although she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Luepkes said the yelling frustrated her to the point she went over and said “you ruined our experience here,” before leaving.
Nakamoto was loud enough to draw the attention of James “Chef” Babian, the co-owner of the restaurant.
He heard Nakamoto’s voice above the clamor of the kitchen, Babian said.
He said he came out and spoke to Nakamoto and the women left.
Babian testified Nakamoto didn’t seem drunk, but was being disruptive.
He pushed Nakamoto’s mostly-full second beer of the night out of the way, telling the customer he would buy him a beer the next day.
Nakamoto seemed confused as to what he did to bring attention, Babian said, but the two men finally went outside.
Nakamoto’s confusion continued, Babian said, and “seemed a bit off.”
That feeling led Babian to pat Nakamoto on the shoulder and offer a ride home, Babian said.
Nakamoto shrugged his hand off.
Babian told him “Maybe it’s best you don’t come back tomorrow.”
Nakamoto cursed, gave an obscene gesture and headed to his 2010 Nissan Armada, Babian said.
As the two men were engaged, Luepkes and Sugimoto went to the grocery store. Sugimoto bought a steak and mushrooms to cook for her boyfriend.
They went outside and saw Nakamoto near his SUV.
To this point, testimonies largely agreed, but what happened in the parking lot for the next several minutes is heavily disputed.
Luepkes said she went across the parking lot to where Nakamoto was, preparing to enter his car.
Her testimony placed him near the door, while Sugimoto said he was in the doorjamb area.
Luepkes approached Nakamoto. She said she walked to meet him, although defense attorney Robert Kim tried to establish she ran.
She said she was “offended, not angry,” but she wanted to know what they had done to anger Nakamoto.
Sugimoto said her friend approached Nakamoto and punched him in the face.
That varies from Luepkes testimony. She said she and Nakamoto were yelling at each other and he began to approach her.
“I just threw a punch while I could,” she said, as she thought he was going to punch her.
He retaliated and the two began to fight.
Then Luepkes started to bleed from the blows to her face and head. She turned her face, she said, and tried to cover it with her hands, falling to the ground.
A blow by Sugimoto distracted Nakamoto, she said, and he attacked her.
At this point, Heather Heers and her boyfriend at the time hurried up.
When she arrived, she told them to stop.
Everyone froze in response, the testimonies agreee. Nakamoto, who Heers said was straddling Luepkes, rose, as did Luepkes.
Heers testified she tried to get an idea of how badly people were hurt.
Luepkes picked up a white coat to use to try and control the bleeding on her face.
They didn’t say anything, Heers said, and she turned to Nakamoto.
“I don’t know if they ran, if they flew, if they skateboarded, all I know is they were gone,” she said during a heated exchange with Kim.
Sugimoto said she left the area because she was afraid of further injury and concern about getting into trouble.
Kim presented an alternate version.
He said they left “because you started the fight.”
“He started it in the bar,” Sugimoto replied. “He was calling us out.”
She said he did not say precisely that he was calling them out, but his actions showed he was.
But the confrontation was over, she thought.
“We didn’t think it was going any farther than that fight, until we realized we were hurt,” she said.
They called Luepkes’s boyfriend. He was already dropping off a friend in the area. He picked them up, they switched vehicles for speed and drove toward the North Hawaii Community Hospital, Luepkes testified.
Luepkes had a cut from the edge of her right eye socket, through her ear and into the back of her head. That was the cut she had felt first, she said.
Then she realized she was also cut across her throat.
Feeling light headed, she laid her head in Sugimoto’s lap. Sugimoto kept talking to her to keep her awake, as Luepkes said she kept losing consciousness.
Sugimoto was also bleeding. She had cuts on her upper left arm and shoulder, and an injury to her breastbone.
Nakamoto was taken by an ambulance to the hospital with a laceration to his right leg, with scratches and bruises on his back and a bruised eye. Later examination showed he had a broken nose.
Sugimoto’s treatment included three layers of stitches on her arm and shoulder and a stitch to the chest.
In total, Luepkes required 100 stitches, in two layers on her neck, and 12 staples. She lost feeling to her face as a result, which slowly returned. She also lost the ability to turn her head for several weeks, her boyfriend testified.
Nakamoto needed one stitch on his leg.
What the cuts came from is still unclear. The only person to see a bladed weapon was Heer, who saw Nakamoto holding one when he sat down in his car.
The trial continues Thursday with testimony with one of the treating doctors. It resumes on Friday with additional testimony.
