Mercersburg, Pa.-area man charged with recent stabbing at Hagerstown gas station

The public defender for a Franklin County, Pa., man charged with stabbing his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend outside a Hagerstown AC&T told a judge Thursday that it was self-defense.

Cory Frederick Buterbaugh, 37, who lives in the Cove Gap area northwest of Mercersburg, Pa., faces charges including attempted first-degree murder for the Wednesday afternoon stabbing of Richard Alan Bradley Jr. by the gas pumps at the AC&T at 724 Frederick St., according to charging documents in Washington County District Court.

Doctors at Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown, according to charging documents, told a Hagerstown Police detective that one wound severed an artery in Bradley's left arm and he "potentially" could have bled to death if the initial responding officer hadn't put a tourniquet on Bradley's arm.

That responder was Hagerstown Police Officer Tom Wolfe, according to Lt. Rebecca Fetchu, spokesperson for the police department.

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Bradley also had a puncture wound to his left chest area, according to court documents.

But Assistant Public Defender Matthew Bronson told District Court Judge Victoria J. Lobley that Buterbaugh was sitting in the truck at the gas station, getting "socked in the face" and not knowing if he was going to get killed.

The "alleged victim was reportedly threatening my client for some time," Bronson said.

"If you ask me, the victim is the alleged aggressor," Bronson said.

Buterbaugh appeared remotely via video from the Washington County Detention Center for the bond hearing.

While the prosecutor described the alleged allegations against him, Buterbaugh shook his head no and moved his hands over his head and face.

Lobley said she found clear and convincing evidence that Buterbaugh is a danger to the community and ordered him to continue being held without bond at the detention center.

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What happened at the AC&T station where stabbing occurred?

Hagerstown Police responded around 1 p.m. on May 1 to the convenience store for a reported stabbing after a store employee called 911 to report a man had walked into the store and was bleeding profusely, according to charging documents.

Bradley alleged told the employee and police that he was stabbed by Buterbaugh, charging documents state.

A detective reviewed store surveillance footage and saw a dark green Ford Ranger pickup parked at one of the gas pumps. Bradley parks his vehicle behind the pickup, gets out and approaches the Ranger's driver, according to charging documents.

During an "altercation," what appears to be a large knife is seen in the pickup driver's hand, charging documents state. The person in the pickup "appears to be jabbing the knife in a stabbing motion toward" Bradley. Bradley holds his left arm as he runs to the store, while the pickup leaves the parking lot.

Police used city surveillance cameras to watch the pickup traveling through the city with "a large amount of blood on the outside of the driver's door," charging documents state. The driver had a cut on his left wrist area.

The pickup, last seen leaving the Hagerstown area, is registered to a relative of Buterbaugh's.

Police interviewed Bradley's girlfriend, who allegedly told police there's an "ongoing issue" between Bradley and her ex-boyfriend, Buterbaugh.

She told police Buterbaugh was sending her threatening messages on Wednesday, with one including a photo of a nearby convenience store. She allegedly told police that Bradley went to confront Buterbaugh at the store about the threatening messages.

Pennsylvania State Police later contacted the dispatch center to report the pickup truck that Hagerstown Police were looking for had just been in a crash in Pennsylvania, court documents state. The driver was identified as Buterbaugh, who had a cut on his left wrist and was taken to Meritus Medical Center.

When a detective tried to speak with Buterbaugh at the hospital, he asked for an attorney so an interview did not happen.

After Buterbaugh was released from the hospital, he was taken to the detention center.

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Defendant in stabbing case had protective order against him

Assistant State's Attorney Danielle Lackovic, during the bond hearing Thursday, said Buterbaugh didn't appear to have any prior convictions.

But she said there was an active protective order against Buterbaugh.

According to court records a woman, with the same name as the woman identified in Buterbaugh's charging documents as his ex-girlfriend and Bradley's girlfriend, had filed for protective orders against both men.

Her Dec. 11 petition for a protective order against Richard Alan Bradley Jr., of Martinsburg, W.Va., was denied by Lobley the same day, with the order stating "no statutory basis for relief." The applicant described herself as Bradley's ex-girlfriend at the time.

The woman petitioned for a peace order against Buterbaugh last spring, noting in her application that Buterbaugh had allegedly "shoved me" and made threats toward her with a kitchen knife.

A final peace order was issued against Buterbaugh on May 31, 2023, but the woman successfully petitioned for that order to be rescinded last summer, according to court records. In the petition, she writes that she wants to "work things out with Cory."

She again successfully petitioned for a peace order against Buterbaugh in December. In that petition, she wrote that the two were fighting and Buterbaugh allegedly told her "he had guns and knives in his house that he was going to us on me." She also wrote that he allegedly was using a location sharing app to watch and track her movements since August.

Bronson mentioned during Buterbaugh's bond hearing that Buterbaugh was president of a historical society in the Mercersburg area.

Buterbaugh's address on his charging documents matches the address for the Cove Gap Museum provided on Facebook for a "Cove Gap - Then and Now!" group "by Cory F. Buterbaugh."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Mercersburg-area man charged in stabbing at Hagerstown gas station