Ryan ChartrandA Cal Poly student was stabbed Saturday night after a small confrontation at a party on the 400 block of Hathaway at 10:25 p.m., according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department.
Mechanical engineering sophomore Nathaniel Urciuoli was stabbed in the chest by a man who resisted leaving the party after being asked by Urciuoli and a few friends because of his suspicious behavior.
“I asked him to leave but he refused. I told him if he didn’t leave I would force him to,” Urciuoli said.
The man appeared to agree to leave and started to hop the fence when he unexpectedly turned and punched Urciuoli with what police said was most likely a knuckle-blade before fleeing the scene. Urciuoli did not initially realize he had been stabbed.
“The actual pain was more from the punch,” he said.
After he felt a warm sensation and saw blood on his hands he notified a friend, civil engineering junior John Schiesser, that he had been stabbed and needed to go to the hospital.
Schiesser, who is an Eagle Scout, attended to Urciuoli immediately and had a friend drive them to the hospital.
“I just did what I’ve been trained to do. I took off my shirt and applied pressure, and continued to apply pressure the entire way to the hospital,” Schiesser said.
Their car was pulled over by a San Luis Obispo police officer on Foothill Boulevard in front of Mustang Village after they failed to stop at a stop sign in an attempt to get Urciuoli to the hospital as soon as possible.
The police officer was hesitant to believe that one of the men had been stabbed, but changed his stance after he shined his light in the car and saw Urciuoli’s blood-stained shirt.
“They didn’t believe me. I had to show them I actually got stabbed,” Urciuoli said. The police officer escorted the three men to their final destination.
They arrived at the Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center emergency room where Schiesser explained the situation to the front desk. “They almost seemed to not believe us at first. It’s not every day you hear of a stabbing in San Luis Obispo,” he said.
Urciuoli received three stitches for the puncture wound that is one inch wide and half an inch deep.
He stayed overnight in the hospital for routine lung X-rays that must take place seven hours apart from each other, and was released around 5:30 the next morning.
Police were notified of the incident after Urciuoli checked into the hospital. Six units were dispersed to patrol the area, but the suspect, who appeared to be a 19- to 23-year-old male, was not found.
The suspect was wearing baggy clothing and had silver teeth. He was with at least one companion at the party who had reportedly been walking into nearby houses.
Police have no current leads on the man and believe that he is most likely an out-of-towner.