Man accused of shooting at car full of people in St. Clair allegedly an ex-cop

ST. CLAIR, Mich. (WJBK) - A man is facing charges after a late-night street shooting in a quiet St. Clair Shores neighborhood. The shooting appears to have stemmed from a major misunderstanding, and we're told the suspect involved is an ex-cop. 

Bob Spicer says the whole thing happened right in front of his house, and his home surveillance camera watched it go down. 

Spicer says he heard a bam, and then several more rounds discharged last Wednesday around 10:30 p.m. Spicer says the suspect was following a van, and that the two cars stopped in front of his house. You can see from the video things got violent from there. Neighbors saw what happened, too. 

You can see the people pushing and pulling in the video - then a man pulls out a gun and starts shooting. Another man's hands go up. You can see the van speed off, leaving the guy with his hands up behind. 

"They weren't going to wait so they just took off on him," says Brent Brooks. "They left him there. My two kids were scared to death."

You can't hear what's being said on the tape, but Brooks said he heard.

"One thing I heard for sure was, 'Give me my cell phone back!' and the kid is in the middle of the street, emptying his pockets, doing stuff like that, trying to prove to the guy, 'I don't have anything! I don't have your phone!'" Brooks says.

Police say the man shooting is a retired police officer from Clay Township. He allegedly thought the young men in the other vehicle stole his cell phone at a gas station. Apparently, the phone wasn't stolen; it was under his seat the whole time. 

"This is a random, very occasional ... thing to happen," St. Clair Mayor Bill Cedar says. 

Police got the shooter and booked him on felonious assault, reckless driving and impersonating a police officer. The driver of the other car arrested for drunk driving. 

The video of what happened depicted what could have been much worse. Investigators and neighbors are relieved no one was hurt. They say a lot of small children live on the street. 

Police did come and get evidence, according to neighbors, including some bullet cases. Spicer says the video has been forwarded to the prosecutor's office.

St. Clair, Mich. is about 50 miles northeast of Detroit. The shooting happened near the 1100 block of Cedar Street.