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The three alleged victims who survived being shot at the Central States Fair last summer sat in the Pennington County Courthouse on Tuesday and listened to the accused defendant testify.

One appeared disgusted by the testimony, another fought back smiles and rubbed his face with his hands as he listened, and a third sat with both his parents, keeping his reaction to a visible minimum. 

Kasey Arehart, 18, of Rapid City, is accused of shooting at the teenagers near the fairgrounds in Rapid City on Aug. 22. Arehart took the stand as the final and only witness for the defense. 

He faces three counts of aggravated assault and one count of discharge of a firearm at a motor vehicle, and is accused of sticking a handgun into a car containing two 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy and firing it multiple times. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

The alleged victims were part of a group of seven friends. The four other teenagers in the group sat in a vehicle parked alongside the alleged victims' vehicle and witnessed the shooting. One of the teens in the second vehicle had "jumped" Arehart as well as his friends in the past, according to Arehart's testimony. 

The evening started with normal fair activities, rose to a corn dog stick being thrown and, ultimately, ended with gunfire and law enforcement. 

Arehart testified that he and three of his friends went to the Central States Fair to ride rides around 10:30 p.m. When they realized the fair seemed "dead," they decided to get some food. 

As they sat eating and talking with a food worker, Arehart testified a subject he and a friend had issues with in the past walked by with his girlfriend. One of Arehart's friends tossed a corn dog stick at the boy after he gave a "smirk" to the group, Arehart said.

The couple moved on and rejoined the group of friends they came with according to earlier testimony. 

"(He) was just being funny," Arehart said about his friend, adding that he had no intention of there being a fight over the corn dog stick. 

According to the testimony of the alleged victims, the teen who had the corn dog stick thrown at him told his friends about the incident, but didn't seem angry or like he was seeking confrontation over it. 

The couple, along with five other teens, left the fairgrounds to go to their cars around midnight — closing time for the fair before it was changed. 

Arehart testified he and his group left around the same time. When he got back to his vehicle to take his friends home, Arehart said he noticed that two cars that hadn't been there before were parked next to his vehicle. 

He saw someone get out of one of the vehicles and started feeling suspicious about the situation, thinking he might be with the teen he and his friends had problems with. 

Arehart testified the teenager asked him about his chain and his shoes. He decided to go to his vehicle and grab his handgun, tucking it in his waistband. Arehart said he had the gun in his car because he had gone target-shooting earlier that day, but it was normally kept in a drawer at home. 

He said he heard a "commotion" and showed the boy standing outside the vehicle the handgun hoping he would leave him alone. He said he was afraid for his well-being. At some point, Arehart ended up next to the vehicle.

Arehart testified that the boy, standing between the vehicle and the open back passenger door, grabbed for his gun through the open window. At that point, Arehart testified, he was afraid for his life. During the struggle, a strobe light and laser mounted on the gun got turned on and the gun discharged.

Arehart testified the teen jumped backward to sit back into the car, pulling him through the open window. The door closed and Arehart's arm was pinned to the door frame as the teen continued to try to get the gun from him. 

The car then "peeled off" taking Arehart with in as it made two circles, dragging him along and ultimately slamming him against the open door of his car, which was parked nearby. 

Arehart said he went unconscious and woke up to his friend asking him if he was okay. He had trouble breathing and his arm and hand were stuck "like a tree branch." 

He got into the car with his friends to go to the hospital. His arm regained normalcy and Arehart said he decided they should go back to the scene and call 911. 

Crowds wander along the midway at the Central States Fair on Aug. 20, 2022, two days before gunshots near the fair prompted an earlier closing time.

The state attempted to dismantle Arehart's testimony, pointing out that the teenager was six-foot-tall, asking Arehart how he would have been able to reach through the open window, struggle for the gun and sit back in the car, all ending with the door closing. 

"I'm really confused about your story," said Adam Shiffermiller, deputy Pennington County state's attorney. 

Arehart maintained through his testimony that the teenager pulled him into the vehicle. 

According to the teen that Arehart said tried to grab his gun, he was simply sitting in the back of the vehicle when Arehart approached the car with the gun, strobe light ablaze. He testified that Arehart had asked for the teenager he reportedly had an issue with, and that he did not personally know him.

Right after Arehart said, "Let me see what's up in here," he stuck the gun in the car's open window and shot, according to victim testimony. The teen said he grabbed Arehart's arm and pinned it against the door frame.

"I just didn't want him to shoot anybody," he testified. 

He said that Arehart kept pulling the trigger, at one point taking one hand off the gun to punch him in the face.

"It was a weak punch," he said from the stand.

The driver of the car started to drive in circles until Arehart dropped the gun in the car and fell off the car. They then drove to Walmart and called 911. 

Arehart's defense attorney, John Rusch, addressed that Arehart's story has changed over the course of the investigation and asked him why. In a phone call to his mother — which was played in court — Arehart told her the teens were "talking (expletive)" so he took his gun out and they said "what you gonna do with that bb gun?" 

"I flashed my strobe at them," he told his mother.

When one of them made a comment about a Christmas light show, he fired. 

Arehart testified he lied in the phone call to his mother and he lied to law enforcement when he told them he felt tough and wanted to show the teens that he wasn't a punk. 

"My purpose was just to get them to leave me alone," Arehart said. 

He also testified that he only said certain things to the police because he wanted to tell them what they wanted to hear, and he was intimidated by them. 

Under cross examination by the state, Arehart testified he got the gun "to de-escalate the situation," although he admitted to pulling out the gun. 

After finalizing jury instructions and both the state and the defense making their closing arguments on Wednesday, the jury will be asked to deliberate the verdict. 

If convicted, Arehart faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine for each count.

— Contact Shalom Baer Gee at sgee@rapidcityjournal.com — 

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