As Alyssha Csuk pulled alongside an SUV driven by Lee Edwin Kish on Interstate 78 in Lower Saucon Township, she said, she expected something to happen.

She had honked at Kish's vehicle at least three times March 13 when he was driving slowly in the left lane as traffic piled up. As she passed him, she noticed his window rolled down and expected some yelling, Csuk, of Bethlehem, said.

“I knew with all my being that something was going to happen,” she testified today during Kish’s preliminary hearing on attempted homicide and other charges. “I said to myself, I won’t partake in this. I won’t partake in this negative energy.”

But as she pulled beside Kish’s vehicle, she said, she heard glass shatter and then a loud bang.

“It sounded like a bomb went off,” Csuk said.

Kish had allegedly fired a gun out his window, striking his driver’s side mirror and hitting her rear passenger-side door.

Defense: Evidence lacking

At the end of the preliminary hearing, District Judge David Tidd decided there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to Northampton County Court. Kish, 66, of Fanwood, N.J., faces trial unless he pleads guilty or some other disposition occurs.

His attorney, Gary Asteak, argued before Tidd that the prosecution failed to show his client had any intent to hurt Csuk. Police did not locate the .45-caliber handgun that fired the bullets found inside the woman’s car, Asteak said, leaving the prosecution only with circumstantial evidence. He said the prosecution was pushing the wrong charges.

“He threw his finger at her, which has other meanings, but not: ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Asteak said.

Tidd acknowledged the evidence was mostly circumstantial, but said it was evidence nonetheless. He said he was concerned the gun was not seen in Kish’s hand, but said the ballistics investigation showed enough evidence that Kish’s weapon was used in the incident.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen said just because the bullet missed Csuk didn't make the allegations less serious.

“It defies logic for anyone to think that shooting a .45 at a vehicle with a person inside, shows any intent other than to kill that person,” Mulqueen said. “He doesn’t get credit for being a bad shot.”

Victim describes 'lunatic'



Csuk, a photographer, testified today she was on her way to Vermont to pick up some of her artwork on the afternoon of March 13 and had just entered Interstate 78 eastbound at Route 412 when she came across a slow-moving tractor-trailer in the right lane. She said she moved to the left lane to pass the truck, but was unable to because Kish was driving slowly there.

Csuk said she was in no rush until a large truck came up behind her and she heard squealing brakes and a honking horn. That’s when, she said, she noticed Kish was only going about 40 mph in the passing lane.

Csuk said she flashed her headlights and honked her horn three times before she got any response from Kish. After the third time, she said, he showed her the finger and then sped away “like a rocket.”

When Csuk saw Kish cut off a tractor-trailer toward the Route 33 exit, she said she was relieved.

“I thought to myself, thank God that lunatic is getting off the highway,” Csuk said.

But Kish slowed down in front of the tractor-trailer and Csuk saw him just before she began to pass him in the left lane, she testified. That’s when she heard the sound of shattering glass and a bullet hitting her vehicle, she said.

Kish had shot through his own side view mirror in an attempt to reach Csuk’s vehicle, according to Pennsylvania State Police testimony. Csuk followed Kish down the highway until they neared Exit 75 at Morgan Hill Road in Williams Township. She managed to get a partial read on his license plate before 911 dispatch told her to pull over.

Cops: Shot fired from SUV



Asteak cross-examined Csuk, at times both their voices rising, about why she was honking and pressuring Kish so much on the highway if she was in no hurry.

When he asked her for the numbers from Kish’s license plate, she rattled them off without hesitation.

“I’ve had dreams about it,” she said.

He asked her to identify other minute details after she said she had a photographic memory, but she struggled. Csuk picked Kish out of a photo array without a problem, according to state Trooper Brian Roberts. He said she seemed to recognize Kish "instantaneously."

Roberts said police sent bullet fragments found in Csuk’s door panels to a ballistics lab. They learned the bullets belonged to a .45-caliber gun.

Roberts said when officers confronted Kish about the shooting at the defendant’s Union County home, his story changed several times, but he did say it was his car that was shot. He admitted to police he had not reported the incident.

“He relayed to us that he didn’t think it was a serious matter,” Roberts said.

Roberts said police determined Kish had purchased a .38-caliber and a .45-caliber handgun from a store in Texas about 10 years ago. Kish denied owning a .45-caliber gun, but told police he kept some firearms in a storage unit in Upper Macungie Township to avoid the strict firearms laws in New Jersey.

Roberts said an in-depth inspection of Kish’s vehicle revealed a bullet had been fired from the driver’s seat of the SUV.

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FREE ON BAIL

Lee Edwin Kish, 66, of Fanwood, N.J., is free on 10 percent of $100,000 bail, posted April 10. Arrested in New Jersey about 10 days after the incident, Kish was initially sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail after his extradition.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen tried unsuccessfully today to have Kish's bail raised, calling him a threat to Csuk and the community.

District Judge David Tidd said at Wednesday’s preliminary hearing for Kish that because the matter is now before county court, it would be up to a judge there whether to change Kish's bail.