custom-functions.el

(defun zap-up-to-char (arg char)
  "Kill up to, but not including ARGth occurrence of CHAR.
 Case is ignored if `case-fold-search' is non-nil in the current buffer.
 Goes backward if ARG is negative; error if CHAR not found.
 Ignores CHAR at point."
  (interactive "p\ncZap up to char: ")
  (let ((direction (if (>= arg 0) 1 -1)))
    (kill-region (point)
                 (progn
                   (forward-char direction)
                   (unwind-protect
                       (search-forward (char-to-string char) nil nil arg)
                     (backward-char direction))
                   (point)))))