An Atmore man and a relative, both convicted felons, were arrested October 3 outside a Pensacola, Fla. restaurant on weapons-related charges after the local man was reportedly seen “huffing” canned air at a Pensacola building supply store earlier that day.
According to Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office reports, 49-year-old Ronald Clark Roddenberrry of Atmore, who has six previous felony convictions, and 28-year-old Christopher Aaron Roddenberry of Cantonment, who has three times been convicted of felonies, were each charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Officers who investigated the report of illegal ingestion of a harmful chemical discovered a shotgun, a Chinese assault rifle and 1,500 rounds of assorted ammunition inside a truck that is owned by the senior Roddenberry. The relationship between the two men was not specified in the sheriff’s reports, but Spokeo.com shows that the two formerly lived in the same Hill Road residence, just outside Atmore.
Reports show that deputies responded to Jersey Mike’s Subs near the intersection of West Nine Mile and Pine Forest roads after receiving a complaint that an unidentified man was huffing a can of spray paint outside the sandwich shop. Sheriff’s dispatchers had received a similar complaint a few hours earlier from employees of The Home Depot, also on West Nine Mile Road.
ECSO officers reported that Ronald Roddenberry corrected the reports, stating that he was ingesting canned air, not spray paint. He explained that he had purchased two cans of “air duster” at the store and had huffed one and thrown the can away. He had the other can in his possession when deputies arrived.
The Atmore man told deputies that he had gotten two females who needed a ride to a telephone provider to have her phone repaired to drive his Ford Expedition into Pensacola since his driver’s license was suspended. Once they arrived at the restaurant, he got out of the Expedition’s back seat and got into a blue car to talk with Christopher Roddenberry.
When the county lawmen walked over to the Ford, they spotted an unopened can of air duster on the back seat. They also saw, “in plain view, on the floorboards,” a shotgun. After deputies determined that both men were convicted felons, the two were placed under arrest and put into separate patrol cars.
Discovery of the shotgun inside a vehicle owned by a convicted felon gave the officers probable cause to conduct a search, and they discovered an ammo can “on the back seat in plain view,” and a 7.62 caliber Chinese SKS rifle was located beneath the back passenger seat.
The ammo can contained 1,240 cartridges for a 7.62-caliber weapon, 178 .45-caliber rounds, 51 rounds of .40-caliber ammo, 38 bullets for a 9 mm weapon and nine rifle cartridges of unknown caliber. Deputies also found two magazines for the Chines rifle.
Ronald Roddenberry was then charged with three counts of felony possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon, along with a misdemeanor charge of inhaling or ingesting harmful chemicals.
Though he denied it, witnesses reported that Christopher Roddenberry was also in the Expedition for a brief time, and he was also charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
According to the Escambia County (Fla.) Jail’s website, both men remained in the facility this week. Ronald Roddenberry is being held under total bonds of $30,250; Christopher Roddenberry is being held under a $15,000 bond.
Pictured at top, Christopher Roddenberry (on left) and Ronald Roddenberry