Man charged with carrying .22-caliber rifle on Cape street

A 23-year-old man found carrying a rifle on a Cape Girardeau street while drunk has been charged, police said.

Ronald S. Roark, 23, of 329 Estate Drive in Cape Girardeau County, was charged with one count of felony unlawful use of a weapon; bond was $3,500.

Police received a call around 5:24 p.m. Tuesday on a report of men in the street with guns in the 600 block of Sycamore Circle, said Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Barry Hovis. Several other calls reported multiple shots fired.

Witnesses told police that Roark was quarreling with another man Tuesday night over a driving incident when Roark displayed a firearm, Hovis said.

When police arrived on the scene, they found an "obviously intoxicated" Roark in possession of a .22-caliber rifle, Hovis said.

Hovis declined to comment on what Roark's blood-alcohol content level may have been.

While investigating the report of shots fired, police officers stopped and patted down other individuals, finding marijuana on one person unconnected to the call of shots fired, Hovis said. Charges were pending.