SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. — A Virginia man was found guilty of five charges after pointing an assault rifle at several bikers who the suspect said were trespassing. Dennis Lee Berry was convicted in Spotsylvania District Court of five counts of pointing/brandishing a firearm and sentenced to a total of 60 days in jail.
A group of men riding their motorcycles said they pulled into a nearby neighborhood, Whelan Ridge Estates, to take a break. Within minutes, Berry came out and pointed an assault rifle at them, according to the riders.
A video posted by one of the riders on reddit showed the tense exchange with Berry. He is seen in the video pointing an AR-15 at the men, accusing them of trespassing.
Berry can be heard on the video saying "I'm gonna take you out first."
"I used to live down the street, so why are you pointing a gun at us," one of the riders responds.
Berry was arrested and charged with brandishing a firearm. The Sheriff's Office stressed he is not related to a retired sheriff's deputy with the same name.
He was convicted on Nov. 12 on all five charges and sentenced to six months, with five months and 18 days suspended, for each charge, totaling 60 days jail time.
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office released a statement saying the bikers were in fact on private property and overlooked a "Private Road No Trespassing" sign at the entrance to the neighborhood itself, but clarified that Berry was arrested because they were not on his private property.
The video has been widely circulated on social media with allegations of racial motives against the suspect, who is white. However, Berry made no mention of race in the video.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the group of men and the suspect both placed calls to 911. When deputies arrived, the group was waiting for them at the entrance to the neighborhood. Berry was taken into custody at that point. No charges were filed against the riders.
According to Virginia Code, brandishing a firearm at someone is only allowed 'when engaged in excusable or justifiable self-defense.'
In the video, the bikers can be heard asking the suspect why he felt the need to threaten their life and point a gun at them, instead of simply asking them to leave.
"None of us have any weapons or anything to threaten your life, but you're pointing a gun at us that's probably loaded," one of the riders says on the video.
WUSA9 was able to reach Berry by phone Tuesday afternoon. He said he did not have any comment on the incident.
The bikers involved provided WUSA9 with the following statement.
“We would like to thank everyone for the love and support that we have received in this difficult time. We would like everybody to know that we DO NOT condone any violence, protests, or aggression towards the gentleman in the video or his family. We put this video out there so that people can see our story. Thank you again for all of the supportive messages! Also we would like to thank the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office for their immediate response and for their professionalism. Their performance was exceptional in every way.”
According to the Sheriff's Office, Berry was released on $5,000 unsecured bond and his rifle was seized as evidence in the case.