A Rawlins judge decided Wednesday that probable cause justified sending the case of a trucker accused of shooting at a pickup truck with a child in the backseat to the felony-level court.
That was after a preliminary hearing in Rawlins Circuit Court in which the defendant, Rabindranath Bunsee, chose to testify — a rare decision at such proceedings.
Bunsee, 59, faces one count of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of reckless driving, two counts of reckless endangerment, one count of property destruction, and an eighth count of using a radar detector.
Court documents say a man driving a Dodge Ram pickup truck called law enforcement Nov. 20 to report that a commercial truck driver had shot a gun from his truck near mile marker 234 on Interstate 80 that afternoon.
Agents noted the alleged victim had a bullet hole in his pickup’s passenger door. They sought and found Bunsee, who had a gun in a cubby of his truck with two rounds missing, according to Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Cody Lenke’s account of the investigation.
On the witness stand Wednesday, Bunsee delivered a different account. He was emphatic that his semitruck lost power on an incline of the interstate — so too did another semitruck in the area — sending the pickup truck driver into a road rage.
He also testified that the pickup truck already had a bullet hole in it, though he thought at the time it might be a sticker.
Bunsee said he and the pickup truck driver both pulled over.
“OK, I’m on the shoulder and the truck in the back of me — he got his power back, and then he left,” Bunsee said, under questioning by his attorney Ryan Semerad. “And then the white pickup truck (driver) … he came out, hitting my trailer, (saying) come out you f***ing n***er.”
The pickup truck driver fired three shots in the air “and I was scared for my life,” said Bunsee, who wept as he spoke. He said the man came toward the front of his truck and fired two shots — one of which “barely hit the radiator” and another “in” the windshield.
Bunsee later clarified that the second shot, by his account, came across the windshield “like a fireball. Like when they (were) shooting Mr. Trump.”
Bunsee challenged law enforcement to take pictures to corroborate his account.
Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Caleb Hobbs, conversely, later testified under questioning by Carbon County Attorney Sarah Chavez Harkins that he didn’t see any bullet holes in the semitruck, though such a finding would have been relevant to his investigation.
Bunsee told Semerad that eventually, while scared for his life, he grabbed his own .380-caliber pistol and fired two shots in the air.
He was adamant that he didn’t see any children in the pickup truck, though the alleged victim told law enforcement his toddler had been in the back seat at the time.
Couldn’t Have
Semerad grilled Lenke about timing.
Bunsee told law enforcement that after the road rage incident, he remained on the side of the road for about 20 minutes to collect himself.
Investigators caught up with him at about mile marker 198 — or 36 miles down the road.
Lenke told Chavez Harkins on Wednesday that he didn’t find Bunsee’s account of stopping for 20 minutes plausible, because of how much ground he’d covered when troopers caught up to him.
Semerad asked how long Lenke’s first roadside interaction with the alleged victim was.
Lenke said he wasn’t sure, except that it was short. He was focused on finding the semitruck.
“When about did this happen?” asked Semerad.
Lenke said he wasn’t sure.
Semerad asked when troopers stopped Bunsee.
“I’d have to check my report,” answered Lenke.
“Because you say Mr. Bunsee’s statements are not believable it matters quite a bit when the incident took place and how far he allegedly traveled,” probed Semerad, later adding, “so you don’t know either of those things — but that is why his story is not believable?”
“Correct,” answered Lenke.
Lenke also testified that he could see the toddler’s leg through a crack in the open back door of the Ram when he first stopped for a roadside interview with the alleged victim.
Why Didn’t You
Chavez Harkins focused on the differences between Bunsee’s Wednesday testimony and his Nov. 20 statements to investigators.
On Nov. 20, Bunsee insisted he hadn’t fired his gun, court documents say.
He also didn’t say the alleged victim had shot at him, though he insisted the other man should be facing consequences for running him off the road, Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Eric Ford testified.
Chavez Harkins asked Bunsee why, in a stretch of more than 30 miles and after having reportedly been shot at, Bunsee didn’t call law enforcement himself.
He said he lacked cellphone service.
“You passed the city of Rawlins, correct?” asked Chavez Harkins. “Did you pull over when you had service?”
Bunsee said he pulled over when the police passed him in pursuit of a different trucker, and later again when they confronted him.
“But you still didn’t call law enforcement to you report you were shot at five times?” asked Chavez Harkins, who then asked which cellphone carrier Bunsee has.
AT&T was his answer.
“You’re saying AT&T doesn’t work in the city of Rawlins?” she asked.
“I’m not saying that. This is the first time coming into the state.”
Bunsee said he was scared and nervous when law enforcement confronted him, and he also said an investigator grew aggressive with him.
Ford countered, saying at least for his part, his interviews can get “pointed” but not aggressive.
He cast Bunsee as “reserved” during their interview later that evening.
Bunsee told law enforcement that the pickup truck driver “tried to kill” him by running him off the road, according to Ford’s testimony.
Rawlins Circuit Court Judge Susan Stipe sent the case to Carbon County District Court, where Bunsee will be asked to give a plea. She also kept his bond at $100,000.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
