Brevard County Man Arrested After Shooting Gun While in His Car, DUI
By Wayne Ivey, Brevard Sheriff // July 24, 2025
Message from Sheriff Wayne Ivey
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Even though we constantly tell people not to drink and drive, they still do it, but this guy, Nathaniel Wadleigh took “hold my beer and watch this” to a whole new level when on top of drinking and driving he was shooting a gun.
Now unfortunately it was Wadleigh’s bad decision making yesterday that landed him a staycation at Ivey’s Iron Bar Lodge for being intoxicated and handling a firearm.
Yesterday afternoon, Deputies and Officers from Melbourne Police Department were dispatched to the area of “Be Back’s Lounge” on Aurora Road due to shots fired in the area.
Witnesses stated they saw a man shoot his gun and that he was currently sitting in a red truck with a black trailer.
The man left prior to law enforcement getting to the area, but within a very short period of time one of the Melbourne Police Officers located the vehicle and the suspect in a parking lot just further east down Aurora Road.
As Wadleigh was taken into custody and questioned by Deputies, he admitted to having a gun in his car and later during an interview also admitted to firing his gun while he was parked at “Be Back’s!!”
It also became quite clear to Deputies that Wadleigh appeared to be under the influence so once the shooting investigation was under control, one began for driving under the influence, and as you might imagine, Wadleigh did not do so well on the Field Sobriety Exercises.
Now, to top things off, Wadleigh provided two breath samples that didn’t let’s just say didn’t help his cause as they were a 0.172 and 0.174.
As a result, Wadleigh was given a courtesy ride to Ivey’s Iron Bar Lodge for his stay on charges of Discharging A Firearm From A Vehicle and DUI.
While the length of his stay at this point is unknown, the cost is priceless as he was checked in on no bond status and of course was given his souvenir “I Messed Around And Found Out In Brevard County” T-shirt.
I want to thank our Deputies and Melbourne Police Department for a job well done, as always, and to the citizens for calling this in, and helping us put Wadleigh right where he belongs…jail!!
– Sheriff Wayne Ivey
