For Stockbridge, Mich. resident James Smith, the trip from his parents’ house to his old apartment in Okemos on the night of Oct. 18, 2012 was an average one.
With his twin daughters in the back seat, he didn’t think the trip would include any twists.
He was wrong.
That night, he pulled up to a stop sign on the corner of Grand River Avenue and M-52 and saw a man fire shots at the car two vehicles in front of him while driving.
“At first I was shocked,” Smith said. “I was really trying to determine if that actually just happened.”
Smith testified in Livingston County Circuit Court in Howell, Mich. during the trial of MSU alumnus Raulie Casteel.
Casteel allegedly shot at dozens of people between Oct. 16 and Oct. 27, 2012 along the I-96 corridor across a span of several counties. The 44-year-old is being charged with nine counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, nine felony firearm counts and a terrorism charge in Livingston County.
He also faces a sentencing for charges in Oakland County later this month.
Nearly 20 witnesses testified Tuesday.
The roster included those who saw shots fired, victims who were shot at and the law enforcement who worked on the case.
One was Jaime Greaves, who said her car was hit on her way from Wixom to Walled Lake, Mich. on Oct. 16, 2012.
She said she didn’t know it was a gunshot until the next day.
“I heard a big bang to my left side,” she testified Tuesday. “I thought a car backfired, but it was so loud my ears were ringing.”
Greaves said she and her family did not feel completely safe until Casteel was in custody.
“He wasn’t caught at that point — we were all on guard,” she said.
After he witnessed one of the shootings, Smith pulled over to make sure no one was injured in the car that was shot at.
He said his daughters feared the shooter would come back.
The shootings caused distress for law enforcement as well.
David Kotalgp, an agent in the Detroit Division of the FBI specializing in Oakland County, said he got involved after Oct. 22 of that year, when the second round of shootings began.
Kotal said the FBI looked into more than 2,000 leads, a daunting task which lasted less than two weeks.
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“It was like trying to pull a firehose of information through a pixie straw,” Kotal said.
Kotal said he was at Casteel’s house when law enforcement attempted to take him in for further questioning and described his demeanor.
“Mr. Casteel was resigned, he didn’t appear emotionally agitated,” he testified Tuesday. “In my experience, when the police and FBI come to your residence, people get emotionally charged. I didn’t see that affect (emotion) at that time.”
If convicted, Casteel could face life in prison.
