Jason Kuhn Attacked in Curtis Bar

May-2010 - A midnight bar fight at the Yellow Rose bar in Curtis May 22 led to the arrest of a North Platte man for stabbing a Blue Hill man in the throat.
Nathan W. Vogt, 24, 712 S. Bryan, was charged in Frontier County Court with first-degree assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly slashed the throat of Jason Kuhn, 25, of Blue Hill.
Vogt was arraigned in court and released on a $30,000 bond.
The fight broke out at the bar just before midnight Saturday, according to witnesses who spoke to the Bulletin. Witnesses said Vogt “blindsided” a Kuhn inside the bar, which angered other patrons.
They said Vogt just approached Kuhn and began “pounding on him.”
A witness to the fight pulled Vogt off Kuhn. He and several other patrons pushed him to the exit. The witnesses said Vogt continued to fight and had to “be taken down before he agreed to leave.”
Several patrons, including Kuhn, followed Vogt out of the bar. The witnesses said Kuhn asked Vogt why he attacked him, since he didn't even know him.
The witnesses said Vogt then apparently slapped the left side of Kuhn's neck with an open hand, but Kuhn's neck was cut from back to front and muscles were severed.
Witnesses who spoke with the Bulletin insisted Vogt “slapped” Kuhn with an open hand and believe he had some kind of blade between his fingers. They said they never saw a knife.
Witnesses said Vogt then left the bar with his girlfriend and drove about a mile to the Wall Canyon bridge where he threw the blade into the canyon. He was arrested a little later after he returned downtown with his girlfriend.
Kuhn's friends said they applied a shirt to his wound and applied pressure to reduce the blood loss while waiting for an ambulance. Kuhn never lost consciousness until he was taken in for surgery, they said.
Kuhn was taken to Great Plains Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released Sunday, May 23.
Friends of Kuhn said that doctors at the hospital told Kuhn it was unlikely he would ever regain feeling on the left side of his face. The friends said doctors at GPRMC believe the injury was severe enough that Vogt could have been charged with attempted murder.
Frontier County Sheriff Daniel Rupp said in a press release Tuesday that the incident continues to be under investigation.
Investigators didn't locate the knife/blade used in the alleged stabbing.
Rupp declined to comment further on the investigation.