SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Update on alleged DUI offender in WA Attorney General’s Office

Jan 7, 2020, 6:35 AM

police chase, security detail, DUI...

(File, Associated Press)

(File, Associated Press)

We have an update on a story from November about the DUI arrest of a man who works for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office — a man whose job it is to uphold the law in our state.

When this prosecutor, Jason Ruyf, was brought into custody in the middle of the night on suspicion of DUI, he apparently refused the breathalyzer test, according to the police report. The Washington State Patrol, at that point, tried to get a warrant for a blood draw because he apparently exhibited numerous indicators of being intoxicated.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson said there was not enough evidence for a blood draw, but at the same time admitted that he knew Ruyf personally. Finally, two hours after the initial request, at about 4 a.m., the judge authorized the blood draw — but it looks to me like in that time, he bought Ruyf a two-hour delay for the alcohol in his bloodstream to be diluted.

When Ruyf was taken to the hospital for the blood draw, he reportedly became belligerent, potentially putting any nurse attempting to draw his blood at risk. He was thrashing around so violently that two more WSP units had to be brought in to restrain him. After the blood draw, he was released.

Dori: Legislator who blocked drunk driving bill got a DUI last year

The reason that tipsters reached out to our show when this happened was that they were certain this case would disappear due to this man’s status in government. Despite the fact that his actions endangered Washington residents, he already had a judge sticking up for him. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs in Washington when a WSP trooper has to contact my radio show on his own to ensure justice is served.

You see, there are two tiers of justice in our state. If you are connected to government, you can break the law. Governor Jay Inslee had a staffer with an expensive waterfront home in Thurston County who abused the low-income housing program, taking a low-income condo in Bellevue from a person who needed it and buying it as a second home. Our state is like the mob — if you’re connected, you can get away with almost anything.

We have now found out, in a one-sentence statement from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, that Ruyf no longer works there. We do not know if he was fired or if he resigned.

Here is what we do know. Because somebody within the WSP was brave enough to reach out to us, we were able to make sure that a public official did not skate by, and was not granted a privilege that you and I would never be afforded. I’m always proud of that with our show. And it is only made possible with tips from you, the listeners. This isn’t just the Dori Monson Show team — this is our entire community working together.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Dori: Update on alleged DUI offender in WA Attorney General’s Office