A lucky-to-be-alive livery cab driver stabbed eight times during a Bronx road rage clash was completely blindsided by the attack, he said in an exclusive interview from his hospital bed.
Osei Kusi, 39, didn’t think anything about passing a driver blocking his way at White Plains Road and Bruckner Blvd. in Soundview toward the end of his shift around 2:30 a.m. Nov. 26.
But when both cars stopped at a red light about half a mile later at White Plains Road and Randall Ave., the other driver unexpectedly exited his car and smashed the driver’s side mirror of Kusi’s Toyota SUV with a baseball bat before stabbing the victim, according to prosecutors.
“He stabbed me all the way to my heart,” Kusi said. “It’s very terrible. I am alive because of God.”
Kusi, who immigrated from Ghana six years ago and drives a cab to support his family, including a wife and children, back home, said he and his attacker never exchanged words.
“All that I remember was that someone was trying to cross me, and I go around the person,” he said. “I didn’t have any discussion with anyone.”
When they crossed paths again four blocks later, two dashcam videos from Kusi’s car recorded Kusi repeatedly yelling, “I don’t want to fight you!” court documents show.
Kusi got out of his car to fix his mirror and Dominick immediately swung the bat at him, Kusi said. “I used my left arm to block it and I slip and fall down,” he said. When Kusi was on the ground Dominick allegedly plunged a knife into his torso eight times, according to prosecutors.
“After he stabbed me, he went back into the car and make U-turn,” Kusi said. The attacker sped off.
Despite the blood pouring from his wounds, Kusi picked up the car mirror and reattached it before collapsing into his driver’s seat and calling a friend for help. He remembers a good Samaritan trying to help him but from that point everything goes fuzzy.
“The blood that was coming out was too much,” he said. “I was going out.”
Kusi was found by a passerby unconscious and soaked in blood inside his SUV, which still had its motor running, police said. Medics rushed him in critical condition to Jacobi Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery to treat stab wounds to his back and stomach. He remains hospitalized.
Darin Dominick, 56, turned himself in at the 43rd Precinct stationhouse a week after the attack. He was charged with attempted murder, assault and menacing at his arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on Rikers Island on $250,000 bond.
“I thank God, and I know that I’ll get justice. so I am very happy,” Kusi said of the arrest. “He can do the same thing to somebody else. Maybe it can happen to you next time. … He should be in jail.”
