501 Roadhouse owner speaks against charges of running illegal gambling operation

BUENA VISTA, Va. (WDBJ) - A Buena Vista restaurant owner is speaking out and claiming he has been unfairly charged with three felonies over bingo games at his restaurant.

Brian Rowsey, the owner of 501 Roadhouse, has been charged with three felony counts of running an illegal gambling operation for hosting bingo games with cash prizes at his restaurant without a Charitable Gaming Permit from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Rowsey said because he has never charged anyone to play bingo, it is not gambling, and he feels his business is being targeted by the City of Buena Vista.

“They don’t have an accuser, and they’re costing me tons of money. They’re running my business into the ground. People are scared to eat here because they think I’m under investigation, and they think they’re going to get in trouble. They’ve run my business into the ground,” said Rowsey.

The affidavit in the case states a man assisting Rowsey with the bingo games told a Buena Vista Police officer that customers have to buy food to play bingo, which would qualify the games as gambling under Virginia law. Rowsey said that is false and said he has never charged anyone to play or required anyone to purchase food to play.

“Bingo is free. It’s free to everybody. I don’t care whether you eat here, I don’t care if you drink here, you can just sit down and play bingo and try to win money,” said Rowsey. “The city is saying that I’m making people eat here. Where my felonies came in, I made a post saying come and eat to play bingo. They’re saying that I’m telling you, you have to eat here to play bingo, and that’s not what it is.”

Rowsey said most of the prize money comes from his pocket or prizes donated by other businesses.

“It’s my money, I can give away what I want to give away, and it’s free to play. If you’re charging $60 like the fire departments and these Moose Lodges and all the other places, if you charge to play bingo, you’ve got to have a gambling license, but I’m doing it for free. I’m giving you the card, and I’m giving you money,” he said. “It’s free, man. It’s free. Anything free you don’t have to have a license to play. I called the gaming commission, and they said I’m 100% right.”

Earlier this week, Rowsey posted to Facebook as a form of petition, and people left over 100 comments on his post stating they were never charged or required to purchase food to play bingo.

“They don’t have one person. They just made up the charge. The charge is made up. What I mean by that is the Commonwealth can’t put the charges on me, the Sheriff can’t put the charges on me, the judge can’t put the charges on me, it has got to be a citizen. A citizen has to go in and swear in front of the magistrate and say ‘Brian Rowsey kicked me out because I don’t have money, Brian Rowsey charged me $40 to play bingo’. They don’t have that,” said Rowsey.

Rowsey said he is confident the charges against him will be dismissed in court.

“It’s 100% free. They don’t have a witness saying that I charged anything, and I’m going to continue to do it. I’m going to keep doing it. As soon as my court date is over, I’m going to have the biggest bingo night you’ve ever seen,” he said.

Buena Vista Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua Elrod said he couldn’t comment on an active criminal case.

Rowsey will appear in Buena Vista General District Court for a preliminary hearing in the case on May 1.