52-year-old Roanoke man, the second person to be flagged in the city since Virginia’s red flag law, found guilty of criminal charges

A man from Roanoke who gave his guns to the police in January was found guilty of criminal charges on Wednesday, but he won’t have to go to jail.

Scott C. Roseberry, who is 52 years old, is the second person in the city to be given a red flag since Virginia’s red flag law went into effect in 2020. The law says that police can give out “substantial risk orders” and take guns from people who might be dangerous to themselves or others.

On January 3, a Roanoke police officer went to the 3000 block of Green Spring Avenue Northwest to help someone in trouble. The officer said Wednesday in general district court that the case was about who gets to keep a child.

The officer said that Roseberry came out of the Green Spring home through a side door under a carport with a semiautomatic pistol in his right hand and “in a drunken way.”

The officer said that he told Roseberry twice to put down the gun, and Roseberry did so within “15 to 20 seconds.” He said that Roseberry said he had at least four beers that night.

Roseberry was held by the officer. The officer wrote in an affidavit on January 3 that while Roseberry was doing this, he threatened to shoot police if they came to his house. He also said he would kill his ex-wife and father-in-law if they came to his house that night.

Roseberry was charged with being drunk in public, handling a gun carelessly, brandishing a gun, and carrying a gun while drunk in public.

The officer who arrested Roseberry testified Wednesday that when police looked at the gun he was holding, they saw that it had a round in the chamber and more in the magazine.

Roseberry’s lawyer, public defender Ryan Vaughn, argued Wednesday that his client, who has pleaded not guilty to all four charges, was not drunk in public on January 3.

Vaugh said that Roseberry was instead drunk at home and under his carport. Judge Thomas Roe agreed, so he threw out the charge of being drunk in public.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jason Morgan asked the judge for a four-month sentence on the charges of brandishing, careless handling, and carrying a gun while drunk.

Morgan said, “The officer was put in a place where he could have been shot or killed.”

But Vaughn argued that Roseberry did not brandish the gun. He pointed to the arresting officer’s testimony, in which he “pantomimed” how Roseberry held the gun as he left the house.

Vaughn said, “He was just holding it in the comfort of his own home.”

But Morgan said the gun wasn’t in the holster but was “ready to go” and that Roseberry didn’t follow the officer’s orders right away.

Roe didn’t find Roseberry guilty of reckless handling, but he did find him guilty of brandishing and carrying a gun while drunk.

Roseberry was given a 30-day jail sentence for brandishing, but none of that time was served. On the other gun charge, he got another 10 days of jail time, which was also all suspended.

Roe said, “I think he might not have been able to think straight after drinking.” “I hope this teaches him something.”

On the night of the incident, police served Roseberry with an emergency substantial risk order and took eight guns from his home. The Roanoke Police Department still had those weapons on Wednesday.

Roseberry’s risk order was looked at by a civil court on January 11 and made to last until April 11. He is due to go back in front of a judge on April 10.