DELAND — A Daytona Beach man told a judge on Wednesday he knew he would be going to prison for a cross-county chase last year in which he snatched vehicles and carjacked a man only to be stopped when he was shot by deputies.
Justin A. Kaegael, 28, was apparently hoping more along the lines of five years and probation, the amount his attorney suggested.
But Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano said Kaegael could have easily killed people while carjacking or stealing their vehicles during which Kaegael dragged one man down the road, outmaneuvered stop sticks and forced another man out of his truck.
Zambrano sentenced Kaegael to 25 years in prison on the carjacking. He also sentenced Kaegael to five years each on two counts of grand theft auto and 15 years in prison on a charge of fleeing and eluding. Kaegael got another 15 years for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The prison terms will run concurrently and will be followed by five years drug offender probation. Kaegael got credit for 268 days, time-served.
Zambrano said he is familiar with the Bellevue Extension where the chase ended and he is aware that nearby there is a place where children gather to play different sports.
“It’s a miracle that no one died, including you after you were shot,” Zambrano said. “What you did is unforgivable, just bluntly putting it, it’s unforgivable, so I expect you to pay for it.”
The judge said Kaegael had racked up nine prior felonies, not counting the five he was being sentenced for on Wednesday at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.
Kaegael testified that he had recently had surgery on his arm and after being released from the hospital he stayed at the home of his friend, Joseph Buttafuoco, and he got high with him. Kaegael said he thought they were doing Molly but instead it was Flakka, a drug which some say has caused bizarre behavior in users.
“I didn’t know that’s what it was and it was going to have the effect that it did on me. I mean the person from that day is not the person that’s in front of you right now,” Kaegael said
He said he had been scared and that's why he fled. Then he said the deputies and the police dog added to the fear.
“After that seeing all the guns and everything and the dog I was in fear,” Kaegael said.
Kaegael had entered an open plea of no contest to the charges without any agreement with Prosecutor Chris Indelicato, who asked that Kaegael get 20 years in prison.
Indelicato called Buttafuoco, who testified that on July 24, 2017 Kaegael spent the night at his home. He said the next day the two did Molly, a club drug but he had no reaction to the drug and Kaegael also seemed fine.
Buttafuoco said he was dropping Kaegael off about 4 p.m. at 1100 Euclid Avenue in DeLand. They were both outside Buttafuoco's car as they were placing some of Kaegael’s clothes in the trunk to store them so he could sell them later. That’s when Kaegael snatched his car keys.
Buttafuoco tried to stop him by reaching into the car with the driver's side door still open.
“He took off. The momentum grabbed my arm and caught me and then he took off with me attached to the car down Spring Garden 15A,” Buttafuoco said.
He said he was dragged three blocks. Indelicato asked him if Kaegael knew he was there.
“Yeah, absolutely, because he was hitting me the entire time he was driving with one hand on the wheel and hitting me, trying to knock me off,” Buttafuoco said.
Buttafuoco fell away and testified he suffered road rash along the left side of his body and other injuries.
Kaegael then crashed the car. But he then stole a Jeep SUV belonging to Shilda Norton who had stopped to help along with her daughter.
Kaegael sped along I-4 as Air One followed overhead. Kaegael swerved into the emergency lane to pass cars and dodged stop sticks thrown by deputies at two different spots.
Kaegael took the International Speedway Boulevard exit and then made it to the 2500 block of Bellevue Avenue Extension behind Daytona Beach International Airport.
He then drove the Jeep toward a Toyota pickup driven by Charles Riffenburg Jr. who was driving home from work.
Riffenburg stopped on the shoulder as Kaegael kept driving at him. Kaegael jumped out and pounded on the hood of Riffenburg’s pickup.
“Then he opens my door, forces his way in, climbs up on my lap tried to get me to sit down. At that time an officer is telling me or him to get out of the vehicle.”
Riffenburg said he pushed Kaegael forward, undid his seat belt and got out. As he got out he grabbed his revolver from the side of his door so Kaegael would not get it.
Kaegael then tried to drive away. But deputies testified he drove toward them and they opened fire, hitting Kaegael four times. Deputies then surrounded the pickup. Its wheels were still turning in the grass.
One deputy jumped on the hood and aimed a shotgun at Kaegael and yelled to other deputies that Kaegael didn’t have anything in his hands.
The other deputies pulled Kaegael out and started medical treatment.
Riffenburg said after the hearing that he wished Kaegael would have received more prison time. He said his Toyota pickup, stained by Kaegael’s blood and punctured by bullets, is a total loss he estimates at $15,000.
While the judge ordered Kaegael to pay restitution to the victims, Riffenburg, who is 59, said he doubts he will ever see any of the money.
Riffenburg said “As far as restitution, I won’t live to see it."
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