A 21-year-old man is recovering after being stabbed in the back during Raft Off, a popular boat gathering on Lake St. Clair, on Saturday. The suspect, 26-year-old Salem Asmar, was arraigned Monday the same day he was due in court for a separate felony case in Oakland County.

Watch Brett Kast's report below Suspect appears in court after stabbing at raft off Harsens Island

The stabbing happened in Muscamoot Bay near Harsens Island, where the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office said a record crowd had gathered for the annual event. Deputies said the large turnout brought with it a number of altercations, including the alleged stabbing.

Witness Allen Cherri was in the water nearby when the confrontation unfolded. He said Asmar wrongfully accused his friend of throwing a beer can at him.

"He confronted him thinking it was him because it's a big crowd, he didn't see who did it but (victim) was the closest to him, and that's when the altercation happened. Called him a bunch of racial stuff, they got into an argument, that's when he pulled (a knife) out of his swimming trunks in the water and stabbed him in the back," Cherri said.

Cherri said Asmar had a 4-inch switchblade. After the stabbing, the victim was brought onto a nearby boat, where bystanders helped cover the wound while first responders arrived.

"A bunch of guys did surround him (suspect) so Salem couldn't get away, and then the police pulled up on their jet skis and got him in custody pretty quick, so they did a good job doing that," Cherri said.

Asmar has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple assault charges, including one involving a firearm. Most recently, in January, he was arrested in connection with a break-in at a marijuana dispensary in Hazel Park. While fleeing police during a high-speed chase, he allegedly crashed into a police vehicle. The following day, he posted a $100,000 bond. He was due back in court for that case at the same time as Monday's arraignment.

72nd District Court Magistrate Dennis J. Rickert addressed those concerns during the arraignment.

"I see a couple things that are concerning to me, one is that he's currently on bond in Oakland County for a fleeing and eluding, I'm concerned the fact that he's on bond and he picks up another major felony charge," Rickert said.

The magistrate set a $100,000 cash surety bond. As a habitual 3rd offender, Asmar could face up to 20 years in prison.

The St. Clair County Sheriff's Office also reported that 50 people were left at Raft Off without a boat ride home, and that 5 people were found so intoxicated that they could have drowned.

"It's a messed up world we live in where you can't even go have fun with your friends without somebody doing that, I mean you're in the water it's not like somewhere you need to be carrying a knife anyways," Cherri said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

A big vote in a small town has created Oakland County's first new community in decades. With nearly 90 percent of the vote, a small section of West Bloomfield Township is now Cass Lake Village, a move residents have been pushing for for years.

Cass Lake Village is less than a third of a square mile, filled with five miles of canals, 15 bridges and just a few hundred people. In many ways, it's already its own unique community. But after this primary election, it officially is.

Watch Brett Kast's report below 'One of the most beautiful places to live': Big vote creates Oakland County's first new community in decades

After decades of living in West Bloomfield Township, these men now have a new hometown, one they created after legally turning their community HOA into it's own village.

These infrastructures are failing and theres no solution for it, this is a solution," said Brik Pardo

The problem lies in the creation of their neighborhood more than 100 years ago. Houses line miles of canals along Cass Lake, requiring 15 bridges, their own roads and their own community water system that their HOA, not the township, was responsible to maintain.

I'm sure that seemed like a good idea at the time, but 108 years later we have now accumulated a 25 million dollar infrastructure deficit," said Chris Laduke. An average MDOT bridge lasts 80 years, this one is over 100."

These small bridges are expensive, and issues came to a head recently, when the township had concerns about the bridge safety.

This bridge we were going to have to close top vehicular traffic because it was rated so low and even though we posted it lower there was a fear a fire truck would go over the bridge, it would collapse and end up in the canal," said Joshua Barstow.

The residents went in search of funding and found infrastructure grants perfect for the job. But the state can only give it to municipalities, not an HOA. So then came the question: why not turn the HOA into a village?

I was not for it really until we exhausted every other option," said Ken Russell. "It's overwhelming with the population you have trying to take care of this infrastructure it is the only way forward that made any sense."

Residents would have to pay both village taxes and taxes to West Bloomfield Township for fire and police services, but there's no longer HOA dues and a massive looming special assessment.

This hopefully will help us getting infrastructure grants and things like that because the cost is over a million dollars a bridge and that's a large cost for 230 some homes," Barstow said.

And on Tuesday at the ballot box, residents approved a charter for Cass Lake Village, with over 80 percent in support. These men were also elected to the new Village Council, and despite the ongoing maintenance and years of work, there's nowhere else, they'd rather call home.

You would think, Brett, people would go running from this place, right but it's probably one of the most beautiful places to live," Pardo said. "And that's why people still live here."

The Detroit Lions wrapped up day three of training camp Friday, with running back Jahmyr Gibbs sitting out for the third consecutive day and two defensive players leaving practice for injury evaluations.

Defensive tackle Alim McNeil left the field midway through practice to be evaluated for a potential neck injury. He walked off under his own power. Rookie linebacker Jimmy Rolder also left practice and is being evaluated for a potential leg injury. He also was able to walk off the field without assistance.

The team ran through full scrimmages, 7-on-7s and toward the end ran through a two-minute drill.

Head coach Dan Campbell had spoken highly of McNeil before practice, noting the defensive tackle's return to form after tearing his ACL in December of 2024. Campbell said it was clear he wasn't the same last season.

"He would never say anything about it. He never did last year, but when we went back last year and watch clip after clip back to back to back, when you start to go through all these, he was favoring the leg a bit. And I don't even think he noticed, Campell said. "It's just good to have him back. He looks great. He's moving well and he's a huge piece for us to have on defense... He does look better. He looks like he's back to what he was. He's healthy."

The Lions missed the playoffs last season, and linebacker Jack Campbell said the team is focused on moving forward.

"Everyone is out there hungry, ready to work. There's all this ho-rah about last year. It's a new year. No one's thinking about last year," Jack Campbell said. Every single year you've got to come into it with a mindset and if you don't come in there with a mindset, its going to be a long year. So I'm looking for guys, including myself, to push it to the maximum and lay it all on the line every single week... no matter who gets hurt. Whoever gets in there is going to play at a high level.

The linebacker also emphasized accountability across the roster as the defense focuses on stopping the run.

"There's no excuses. That's obviously something we're not going to go for this year... Get your job done. And if you don't do it, you can see it on the tape. It's blatant. Doesn't matter if you're the top guy or bottom guy on the roster, we need you to do your job," Jack Campbell said.

Jack Campbell also said one of his focuses during this phase of the season is working on punch-outs.

"Right now, I'm just really trying to continue my punch outs, so I think its a good time to work on that because obviously in a live game, it takes a very special talent to be able to punch a ball and secure a tackle. Its very impressive, Jack Campbell said. "Turnovers win games in the NFL, so for me, thats what I want to do."

While Gibbs remained sidelined, new arrival Isiah Pacheco took first-team reps at running back. Pacheco, who left Kansas City in the off season, said the Lions' coaching staff drew him to Detroit.

"The coaches, the leadership, they're coaching hard and that's what makes you want to play hard when you have coaches willing to stay extra, get the job done, you got to listen and be accountable," Pacheco said.

Tight end Sam LaPorta, who dealt with injuries last season, has been practicing at full strength. Tight end Brock Wright said LaPorta's health is a boost for the offense.

"Health is everything. You see the teams that make it the furthest each year are usually the healthiest teams and to have a play-maker like him being healthy out on the field, you saw it there in two-minute, brings a lot of energy and a lot of juice to the offense," Wright said.

Offensive lineman Christian Mahogany said the team's standards have not changed despite roster turnover.

"The expectation is not going to change just because we have newer guys in the room, some from different teams, some drafted. We have to meet the standard and play above the standard at some point," Mahogany said.

Jack Campbell echoed that mindset heading toward the regular season.

"We just have a great group of guys this year and I'm really excited to get into the thick of it and start callusing our bodies. The process is already started but just get ready for week one and being the most conditioned team," Jack Campbell said.

The Lions have Saturday off before returning to practice in front of fans Sunday in Allen Park.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.