I knew Richard for many years, and his two dogs who guarded the Youth Farm on Flamingo where I have garden space. This is a huge blow to our community.

Suspect in Youth Farm caretaker killing dies in Reedsport standoff with police (registerguard.com)

A man suspected of killing a FOOD for Lane County Youth Farm caretaker died Tuesday night during an hourslong standoff with police in Reedsport, according to police. 

The Roseburg Police Department said 30-year-old David Robert Ruozi Jr. was killed during the standoff. Springfield police were looking for Ruozi for several days before he was killed in connection to the of killing volunteer caretaker Richard Marshall in Springfield.

Douglas County sheriff’s deputies pulled a vehicle over around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Highway 101 and Winchester Avenue in Reedsport, a Roseburg police news release said. Deputies detained one vehicle occupant but another was hostile and a standoff ensued.

Shots were fired around 10:45 p.m. Police have said Ruozi was armed but have not been clear whether he used or tried to use his weapon during the standoff. 

Officers involved in the shooting are on paid leave, a standard procedure.

Springfield police believe they had Ruozi in custody only hours after he killed allegedly shot and killed Marshall on Feb. 26, according to a news release. He was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm and criminal trespassing.

Ruozi was released on the morning of March 1 and Marshall’s body was found later that day, the news release said. Ruozi was identified as a suspect because of the gun he had when arrested matched the caliber of Marshall’s wound, according to police.

The Safeway Surrogates

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Royal Rosamond Press

When Chuck, the manager of Safeway, banned Hollis and Steve from the premises, I sought him out in the store and told him I and my family were Safeway customers for three generations. Chuck bid me come up with a solution. I went home and wrote a letter, came back, and handed it to him.

I told Chuck about the Safeway executives I met at the Youth Garden where I had done volunteer work. I interviewed them for my newspaper. They told me they were going to post a memo in stores, and bid employees to volunteer. Chuck saw me at the farm. I asked him how many employees had volunteered in the last year. The answer was “none”. I told Chuck Steve and Hollis had volunteered one time. I suggested Safeway employ Steven and Hollis in some form as SUROGATE VOLENTEERS. Chuck is no more.

I will be contacting these executives. With the election of Pope Francis, a Poor People’s Crusade, that puts troops on the ground – NOW – is the order of the day!

Here is an old post.

https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/the-safeway-crew/

Jon

The Safeway Crew

Posted on October 26, 2012

by Royal Rosamond Press

Last night I had the Safeway Crew over to watch the world series. The Safeway Crew consist of Hollis, Steve, and Michelle. Hollis was a homeless Veteran that lived under the freeway near the Safeway in Springfield Oregon. Hollis spent most of his time in front of Safeway waiting for folks to give him their empty cans. He was befriended by Steve a star athlete in high school who was kicked out before he graduated for fighting. He was taunted. Steve is disabled and stutters. Steve befriended Michelle, a twenty year old woman who is Autistic. Michelle brought Ben with her, whom she met at the autistic school. He is nineteen.

A year ago the manager of Safeway kicked Hollis and Steve off the premises. I went to the manager and complained. I told him Jesus spoke over a hundred times in the market place. It was his church,and thus, it is my church. Jesus bid devout Jews to dine with the poor and disabled. He did not tell his followers to give money to a charity, or food bank, but, bring the disenfranchised into your home. I have been doing this for over a year. Thanks to the Rice Trust I have extra money from my SSI check to buy food to feed my guests while we watch the Ducks and Giants play. For awhile we had movie night every Sunday. Recently I had Michelle over by herself while I drew her hands. I had come to understand she needs the routine. She need a break from home, and enjoyed the peace and quiet as we watched her Barbie Movies about Magical Unicorns and what have you.

The manager of Safeway challenged me to come up with a solution. I handed him a two page letter where I suggested that homeless surrogates be sent to the Youth Farm to do voluntary work, because the General Manager of Safeway bid his employees to volunteer. I met him and about six other managers while I helped prepare produce for the food banks and kitchens. Not one employee did as their boss suggested. The Safeway Crew had been there several times.

Last night I talked to my friend Chris in New York. She is an avid baseball fan. While attending Mills College in Oakland she met the owner of the Giants who was a CEO of Safeway, a family business. Peter Magowan went to Stanford. Chris’s good friend was dating Peter who had a dream to own a major league baseball franchise. His kin are well known philanthropists. However, they need to invite the disenfranchised into their home for dinner on a regular basis. This would solve most of America’s problem, being, the rich have got to stop being afraid of those who are not like them, because, those people do not exist.

Chris grew up on Beacon Hill where her father had his medical practice. Chris went to the finest schools, but, due to her disabilities lives in a studio apartment in the Village of New York. In researching the symptoms of Autism, I highly suspect she has suffered from this condition that for almost seventy years was not diagnosed.

Last week Hollis told me President Obama passed a bill that helps homelsss Veterans find a home and get dental work outside the VA. Jon
The St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County is the only Oregon non-profit to win a grant under the Department of Veterans Affairs’ new Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program. The VA gave St. Vincent de Paul $125,000 to launch its “Coming Home” initiative for veterans and their families.

Nationally, the VA distributed almost $60 million in homeless prevention grants to 85 non-profits around the country.

In Lane County, St. Vincent officials said they would use the money in a variety of ways, from providing temporary financial assistance to funding intensive case management. The grant also will add to the non-profit’s Veterans Living Independently Following Treatment program, which offers transitional and permanent housing for vets.

The VA has estimated that 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, according to the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans. Census of homeless people, such as the recent one in Multnomah County, show that veterans make up a disproportionately high number of the homeless population.