An Erie man shot in the thigh during a reported armed confrontation outside of an AutoZone store on the city’s east side Aug. 7 has waived a felony weapons charge to court as the accused shooter awaits his preliminary hearing in the Erie police case.
Braydon E. Bartlebaugh, 20, waived to court Sept. 9 a third-degree felony count of carrying a firearm without a license as prosecutors withdrew two misdemeanor charges, possessing an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person, at Bartlebaugh’s preliminary hearing.
Bartlebaugh’s lawyer, Wayne Johnson, asked Erie 5th Ward District Judge Paul Bizzarro at the hearing to consider lowering the $75,000 bond that has held Bartlebaugh in the Erie County Prison since his arraignment Aug. 8. Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Lightner said he believed the current bond was appropriate, noting that Bartlebaugh has prior weapons convictions.
Bizzarro said he would think about Johnson’s request and did not act on it at the Sept. 9 hearing.
Erie police charged Bartlebaugh and 22-year-old Erie resident Eliezel Rodriguez, who is accused of shooting Bartlebaugh, following the shooting, which was reported Aug. 7 at 4:45 p.m. in the parking lot of the AutoZone store at 2119 Broad St. Rodriguez was also scheduled to appear in court Sept. 9 for his preliminary hearing, but the hearing was continued and a new hearing date was not scheduled.
Rodriguez remains in the Erie County Prison on $250,000 bond. He faces charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure.
Shooting outside AutoZone on Broad Street in Erie on Aug. 7, 2026.
What led to the shooting?
Authorities have not revealed a possible motive in the shooting, although detectives wrote in the criminal complaints against the pair that they reportedly had a long history of disputes and had a verbal altercation in the parking lot that day.
According to investigators, officers who responded to the store after the shooting was reported found Bartlebaugh and Rodriguez at the scene and located three spent 9mm shell casings in the parking lot and a bullet near a shattered window on the store, which had five people inside at the time. Bartlebaugh was taken to the hospital and Rodriguez, who was found with a handgun, was taken to the Erie police station for questioning, police reported.
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Detectives reviewed surveillance video they said showed Bartlebaugh and Rodriguez arguing, then showed Rodriguez walking around a vehicle with a handgun and Bartlebaugh exiting the vehicle with a gun. Rodriguez is then seen firing three gunshots in the direction of Bartlebaugh, who did not fire his gun, investigators wrote in the criminal complaints.
Rodriguez admitted under police questioning to firing the gun three times toward Bartlebaugh, and Bartlebaugh admitted to grabbing a gun from the vehicle and pointing it at a person, according to information in the complaints.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Man shot in Erie waives gun charge as accused shooter awaits hearing