CHICORA — The man who evaded police for nearly a week after allegedly shooting his girlfriend in Pittsburgh and making a high-speed getaway into Butler County appeared in court Tuesday for his first of two scheduled preliminary hearings this week.

Robert Amend, 49, of Pittsburgh sat quietly, at times sharing conversation with his father and brother, while waiting — handcuffed and shackled — for his case to be called at District Judge Lewis Stoughton’s courtroom in Chicora.

At the bench, he let his attorney, Marc Daffner of Pittsburgh, do the talking.

Daffner advised the judge that Amend was waiving his right to the hearing on felony and other charges stemming from his getaway earlier this month.

After the shooting Aug. 8, Amend fled into Butler county, abandoning his disabled car near the Oakland Township Elementary School.

He got away into the woods and was on the loose for five days before turning himself in to police in Pittsburgh.

“I told his brother that (Amend) needs to turn himself in — that’s better than running,” Daffner said.

”Our concern was getting him to turn himself in without causing a tactical response by the authorities.”

Amend is to have another hearing on Thursday before a district judge in Allegheny County on the shooting part of the case.