Police: Hate-crime suspect broke sprinklers, flooded jail

Ruzek accused of bias crime, tampering with sprinklers

Ryan Morgan, Daily Camera

Originally published 07:44 a.m., March 28, 2008
Updated 07:44 a.m., March 28, 2008

A suspect arrested earlier this month in connection with a bias-motivated attack on a Hispanic man could face more charges after authorities at the Boulder County Jail say he and another inmate broke fire sprinklers, causing a flood.

That suspect, Joshua Ruzek, 19, along with inmate Andrew Wren are accused of flooding several cells by damaging the sprinkler heads in a coordinated attack March 21.

According to a report, one officer reported he "heard the inmates counting down, '5, 4, 3, 2, 1,' then, the water began to flow."

The water flowed for nearly an hour, until the system was drained, said Boulder County Sheriff's Cmdr. Bruce Haas, and the mess took hours to clean up.

Both Ruzek and Wren wrapped their valuables in plastic before the flood, according to the report. They could be charged with criminal mischief and tampering, both misdemeanors.

Ruzek, of Lafayette, was arrested along with Abraham Paquet, 19, of Broomfield, after officers said they saw them attacking Ivan Ponce De Leon-Najera, 26, of Louisville, outside the PDQ convenience store at 5200 Manhattan Circle in Boulder.

Ponce De Leon-Najera told police the teenagers had approached him as he was leaving the store, called him a derogatory name and then asked him about taking their jobs.

Ruzek has since posted bond and is no longer in jail, Haas said.

Haas said inmates are sometimes tempted to cause trouble by tampering with sprinklers, but, he said, it's mischief that brings plenty of discomfort to the people who cause it.

"It doesn't happen that frequently because it also drenches (the inmates), so they get quite a dose," Haas said.

The substance that floods from the pipes isn't just water -- it includes a fire suppressant that's an "oily concoction," Haas said.

"It flows, it empties the entire system for a good 40 minutes. We leave them in there for them to get nice and wet as we have to clean it up," he said.

And, Haas said, the prank isn't very popular with inmates who aren't in on it.

"The other inmates aren't too happy about it either because their rooms get flooded," he said. "It's not a good way to make friends."