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An 18-year-old Punahou School graduate is back home in Hawaii after tackling and subduing a man who attacked her mother while on vacation with her family in New Orleans.
Masina Tupea, her mother, Luisa, and father, who declined to be identified, had flown to New Orleans from Oahu Dec. 28 for a one-night visit to the city. It was the first time Tupea, a student at Johnson &Wales University in Rhode Island, had visited New Orleans.
Luisa Tupea, 47, a production coordinator for “NCIS: Hawaii” and ESPN, said she is familiar with the city because of her work.
An hour or two after arriving, the Aiea family was walking around a busy part of the city looking for a place to eat when they became the victims of an attempted purse snatching. While crossing the street at a busy intersection, a man punched Luisa on the right side of her jaw.
“I looked to my left to make sure that I can cross (the street), and the next thing I remember is I’m on the ground,” she recalled in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’m completely disoriented. I have no idea what just happened.”
It’s not clear why she was targeted, but it could have been because she appeared to be alone. Masina said she was a few yards from her mother at the time of the attack and about 30 yards from her father, who “walks super slow.”
After the attack, a bystander yelled out that the man had taken Luisa’s purse. Masina, almost by reflex, she said, chased him down, even after noticing he hadn’t actually taken anything or had already dropped any stolen items. Her father had also gone after their assailant.
The man was then tripped by another person, allowing Masina to catch up to him, but he punched her left eye and attempted to escape again.
“I don’t think I had any conscious thoughts. In my head, all I knew was get the guy, get the guy. I knew that there was no way he was getting away. You don’t hit my mom and hit me and get away with it,” Masina said, later adding she was just trying to protect her family.
She ran after him again, unable to see out of one eye, and managed to grab his shirt. After another scuffle she tackled the man and pinned him on the ground.
“I’m screaming at him, ‘You messed with the wrong family. You messed with the wrong family,’” Masina said. “I’m also yelling at him to look at me. … I’m like, ‘Look at me. You hit an 18-year-old girl in the face.’”
NOLA.com reported that police arrived and arrested 36-year-old Augustus Taylor for attempted purse snatching and two counts of simple battery.
Masina suffered a black eye and her mother a dislocated jaw that had to be realigned at an emergency room. By Wednesday, both women said they had mostly recovered.
“Something I learned about myself is how I react when in crisis,” Masina said. “It’s nice to know that my fight-or-flight (reaction) is fight.”
Masina doesn’t have a background in fighting but she is a gifted athlete. She was a competitive powerlifter in high school, and it’s still part of her training as a volleyball player on the Johnson &Wales team.
The family made sure not to let the incident ruin their vacation. They spent the next day exploring the city.
“We didn’t want it to be a negative experience to dwell on. … We’ve had a huge outpouring from our friends and our family and my work and the city of New Orleans — so many people have reached out,” Luisa said.
“We’ve seen the good side of people through this.”
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