By John Little
BUENA VISTA – Brian Rowsey, the former owner of a local barbecue joint, was arrested last month on felony gambling charges for allegedly hosting illegal bingo nights at the Buena Vista restaurant.
According to court documents, Rowsey, who owned 501 Roadhouse until earlier this month, was released March 5 on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Buena Vista Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua Elrod has filed a motion to revoke that bond, citing Rowsey’s continued hosting of bingo nights in March, which he said violated bond conditions.
“For bingo, man?” Rowsey said. “I’d take three felonies for selling meth before I took a felony for some bingo.”
Rowsey’s preliminary hearing and his bond revocation hearing are set for May 1.
Gambling allegations
Normally, a bingo night requiring a purchase might not raise legal concerns. However, under Virginia law, anyone hosting a bingo game that charges to play must have a charitable gaming license.
Rowsey said he never applied for a license because he did not see the need for one.
Rowsey has a criminal record that does not immediately disqualify him from applying for a license, but Elrod noted that the approval process is highly selective. Rowsey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction charge in 2015 and to three misdemeanors in 2008 related to the theft of a generator, gas can, and heater from Virginia Military Institute, according to court records.
Rowsey maintains his innocence. His attorney, Mel Williams, did not comment earlier this week; a message left for Williams on Thursday was not immediately returned.
The bingo games Rowsey hosted are considered illegal gambling because he required people to make a purchase to participate, according to the warrant.
Elrod declined to comment on the specifics of Rowsey’s case. But he said that gambling is “broadly illegal” in Virginia, except for certain exemptions made for groups with the proper licensing.
“If a game is the primary purpose for someone attending an establishment, and they are paying as part of attending that establishment—so it’s driving business—then that strikes me as illegal gambling,” Elrod said.
Rowsey denied requiring people to pay to participate in bingo, citing a Facebook petition with over 100 signatures asserting the games were free.
Bingo winners, Rowsey said, spin his Wheel of Fortune for prizes like t-shirts, large screen TVs, or a cash jackpot. He challenged the narrative presented in the warrant, saying he did not require people to be customers to play bingo.
“That’s why people come, because it’s free,” Rowsey said. “You have the opportunity to win money at every game.”
Rowsey’s advertisements for bingo stated that participants must reserve their seats to play.
In a January letter, Elrod told Rowsey he was six months behind on meals taxes and warned him that he thought his bingo events were illegal.
Rowsey said he has now paid the meals taxes he owed. “It’s either that or I go to jail,” he said.
Even after the warning and the arrest, Rowsey acknowledged that he continued to host and promote bingo events, saying they remained free of charge.
Rowsey said he views his bingo nights as a way for him to give back to the community and honor his mother, who he said enjoyed bingo.
Police evidence
The arrest warrant cites three separate bingo nights—on Feb. 13, Feb. 20, and Feb. 23—as the basis for the charges. Elrod’s motion to revoke Rowsey’s bond cites two additional bingo nights on March 6 and 9.
The warrant said Buena Vista police have undercover footage of Rowsey operating a bingo game on Feb. 13, with bingo cards at customers’ tables. This footage, the warrant alleged, suggests that Rowsey required payment for participation in bingo without the proper license, which would constitute illegal gambling.
“It’s not illegal playing bingo,” Rowsey said about the footage. “They need to get me selling that card. They don’t have that.”
The arrest documents also cited a Feb. 20 encounter between an officer and a man they identified as Rowsey’s assistant bingo announcer, William Crouch. According to the documents, Crouch told the officer that players must purchase a plate of food to participate in bingo.
But William Crouch of Buena Vista died on May 29, 2023, according to his obituary in The News-Gazette.
Rowsey said that his brother, Michael Crouch, is the bingo announcer.
“Bingo accuser is William crouch he has been dead for a year. Can’t make this up,” Rowsey wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. “Sure hope they not talking about his brother he is like my dad.”
Elrod acknowledged the mix-up.
“A misidentification is not entirely atypical,” Elrod said about the warrant. “Finding the most reasonable conclusion, did the officer believe they got the evidence from a dead person, or someone that they misidentified?”
Crouch and the Buena Vista Police Department declined to comment.
Police have also cited Rowsey’s deleted Facebook posts as evidence in the case.
The warrant cited one deleted Feb. 13 post advertising bingo in which Rowsey said “tables are for our customers only not a place to hang out or sleep.” Police allege this post was evidence of Rowsey requiring bingo participants to make a purchase, but Rowsey said his comment had nothing to do with paying to play bingo.
“Everything is free, except for the food and drinks,” Rowsey said.
Rowsey said he knows law enforcement officers and sheriff candidates who could say that the bingo was free, but he refused to provide any names.
When asked, none of the three candidates for Buena Vista sheriff offered comments on the bingo nights.
Candidacy for sheriff
Rowsey himself has tried to throw his hat into the Buena Vista’s sheriff race – a move he said is driven by frustration with local law enforcement.
“Everyone says they don’t want to come here because of the law,” Rowsey said. “My friends, family, cousins, don’t even want to come here to drink beer because, as we’re sitting here drinking, we’ll see 10 cops going down the road.”
He said his disputes with police have deterred local customers, and that most of his clientele now come from out of town.
If elected sheriff, Rowsey said that he would only work one day a year and cut a million dollars off the budget to add facilities to a basketball court.
Rowsey previously ran for Rockbridge County sheriff in 2015 and garnered less than 10 percent of the vote.
But city officials said that Virginia law prohibits his candidacy.
“Until he becomes a resident of Virginia for a least one year, he is not able to run for any elected office in the state of Virginia,” City Manager Jason Tyree said. “Not just Buena Vista.”
Rowsey said he moved back to Buena Vista in 2024 after six years of living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. His warrant listed his address in South Carolina as his place of residency.
Selling the property
Rowsey said he regrets returning to Buena Vista.
“If anyone else owned this, they’d be a multimillionaire,” he said. “I moved here 10 months ago – worst decision of my life.”
Though Rowsey never owned the property 501 Roadhouse is situated on, he advertised both the property and business as being put up for sale earlier this month.
The property’s title lists Lewis Hamilton as the owner since 2014. Hamilton declined to comment about the restaurant.
In a Facebook post, he offered the business and property for sale for $800,000, with a $600,000 down payment and owner financing.
“I’ll finance the rest for you with no interest,” he wrote. “These are turn key restaurants. These restaurants will make between 2–3 million dollars this year.”
The warrant said Rowsey’s available financial resources per month are $20,000. Rowsey said no one has expressed interest in buying.
In recent public statements, Rowsey no longer calls himself the restaurant’s owner.
According to Tyree, Rowsey and his wife, Jodi, had their names on the business license as the joint owners of the restaurant until April 2. Then, Rowsey removed his name from the license, Tyree said, leaving his wife as the sole owner.
In a Facebook livestream on Monday, Rowsey argued police should drop the charges because he is no longer the owner, although the bingo nights occurred before the paperwork change.
“They locked me up for something they thought I owned,” he said on the livestream.
This week, when asked about his position, Rowsey called himself a volunteer at the restaurant.
Incident on Sunday
Rowsey raised concerns about an incident at his restaurant and house on Sunday, which the Buena Vista Police Department confirmed they responded to.
On Thursday, police arrested Howard Clark on a felony charge of breaking into Rowsey’s house Sunday with the intent to commit assault and battery or other crimes, according to Buena Vista General District Court records. His preliminary hearing is set to take place in June.
Clark is the husband of Michele Clark, Buena Vista’s victim and witness director, who works in Elrod’s office.
Michele Clark declined to comment on the arrest and a message left for Clark’s lawyer Thursday was not immediately returned.
Salem’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, Thomas Bowers, was appointed the special prosecutor in this case, according to Elrod. Bowers said Thursday that since his office had just received the case, he is not yet familiar with the details.
Rowsey had accused Michele Clark of running parody Facebook accounts that mock his business and said he urged city officials to fire her.
She denied his accusations.
“I’m far too busy to run a parody account,” Michele Clark said.
Elrod said he did not know who was behind the account.
“I’m aware of a parody account,” Elrod said. “I don’t know who runs it.”
Rowsey said he posted comments denigrating Michele Clark on Facebook on Sunday before Rowsey’s wife quickly took them down.
Later that day, Rowsey said that Howard Clark threatened him at his restaurant.
“Her husband barges in,” Rowsey said on a Facebook livestream. “Runs into the kitchen, hollering my name. The waitresses, including my daughter, tell him he has to leave.”
Footage that Rowsey sent to The Rockbridge Report shows a man yelling and confronting waitresses in the kitchen. It is unclear what the man said in the videos.
Later, he said, Clark charged through his house’s back door.
Rowsey’s footage also showed the man entering his residence through a back door. The man said Rowsey’s name twice before leaving.
Rowsey said he was not at the restaurant or his house during the incident.
Bike Night
Though Rowsey said the bingo events are on hold, he hasn’t stopped hosting gatherings altogether.
On Saturday, Rowsey held Bike Night at 501 Roadhouse—an event catered towards motorcyclists that he said was in the works for 10 months.
Attendees enjoyed live music, a mechanical bull, and a pool table.
One advertised feature—a $500 raffle giveaway to a biker—did not take place.
Rowsey had promoted the giveaway on Facebook. “Josh Elrod, Commonwealth’s Attorney, said that’s gambling and I’m not allowed to give no money away for nothing,” Rowsey said at the event.
Just the day before, Rowsey said in an interview that he would hold the giveaway.
Most interviewed attendees said they came from outside Buena Vista. Some said they support Rowsey because they said they think he is unfairly targeted.
City officials said they have no issues with Rowsey holding events, provided they are legal.
“I hope he has a great event,” Tyree said about Rowsey before Bike Night. “We also want to make sure the citizens that live here are safe, and as long as that occurs, life is good.”
Rowsey said that if he wins his case, he will hold the biggest bingo night yet.