A man was arrested and charged after he allegedly went to a house to buy dirt bike tires uninvited, shot at the sellers and was physically held down until police arrived.
James A. Bauer, 43, of Grafton, is charged with wanton endangerment and prohibited person in possession of a firearm by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department.
No one was injured in the incident, Sheriff Perry Palmer said.
Deputies responded to the home Breakiron Hill Road, near Stoney Meadow Lane, for a reported brandishing just after 10 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint.
The homeowner and his sons were fighting with a Bauer and restraining him when a deputy arrived, the complaint said. The homeowner assisted getting Bauer – who continued fighting after the deputy identified himself and told him to place his hands behind is back – into handcuffs.
A handgun was behind a vehicle in the driveway as was a fired shell casing further up the driveway and a bullet hole in the ground, the complaint said.
The homeowner, his two sons and the wife all told “generally the same account of what happened when questioned separately,” according to the complaint.
The sons were selling dirt bike tires on Facebook for about $5 each and Bauer bought some a week ago, the complaint said. He showed up on Tuesday night uninvited while the victims were asleep and started going through the tires behind the house with a flashlight.
The homeowner and his sons confronted Bauer, who said he made arrangements with the sons to come by and get tires even if no one was home. The sons disagreed but decided to let Bauer buy tires anyways, the complaint said.
Bauer didn’t have the money to pay for the tires and started back pedaling. All witnesses, including the man Bauer came with, saw him remove a pistol from his back waistband, bring it around to his front and shoot at the homeowner, who was approaching him, the complaint said.
The homeowner and his sons rushed Bauer, disarmed him and held him until police arrived, the complaint said.
Bauer denied possession or firing a pistol.
Palmer said Bauer was convicted in 2001 for selling drugs in South Dakota and is not allowed to have firearms.
Bauer was arraigned by Magistrate Tim Pocius and is being held in North Central Regional Jail on $50,000 bond.
