Avon Lake man charged with threatening violence after Bay Village church service

An Avon Lake man is facing two misdemeanor charges in Rocky River Municipal Court after police say he threatened to beat up, shoot and kill several people following a Catholic church service in Bay Village on May 28. William Ruda, 63, of Regatta Drive, is charged with two counts of aggravated menacing, both misdemeanors, according to Rocky River Municipal Court records. A no-contact order was issued forbidding Ruda from having any contact with the alleged victims. An arraignment is scheduled in Rocky River Municipal Court on June 21, according to court records. According to a Bay Village police report, officers were called to the main entrance of St. Raphael Catholic Church at 525 Dover Center Road just after 10:45 a.m. May 28, for a report of "a possible assault in progress." Officer Darren Ingraham found Ruda standing on the sidewalk outside the church, acting "very excited and emotional" and crying at times, according to the police report. It was the day of Ruda's granddaughter's first Communion and Ruda told police someone had taken the microphone after the Rev. Timothy Gareau's homily to address comments Gareau made about LGBTQ issues. Ruda told Ingraham the person "should not have been at the (altar) speaking," that Ruda's "wife and grandchildren were in the congregation, and this was not the place to say such things," according to the report. The speaker who took the microphone was escorted from the church, but Ruda "could not stomach what he had just witnessed," left the church and found the person standing outside the church. Ruda claimed he was "greatly disturbed as his grandchildren witnessed this spectacle in church," and that he approached the person and "asked that they leave the premises." "I asked Ruda if (he) had the authority to remove someone from the property, and he admitted he did not," Ingraham wrote in his report. Ruda claimed he was pushed by one of the people outside. Asked if he "made any threats to shoot anyone," Ruda "stated it was a very emotional encounter, and he may have said if they were in the streets and you came at me that way, I would shoot you," the officer wrote. Telling Ingraham "he was sick to his stomach from what had occurred during Mass," Ruda gave a written statement at the Bay Village Police Department. Interviewed by police, the victims said Ruda approached them outside the church, told them to leave the property, and "this resulted in a heated debate in which Ruda threatened to shoot them if he ever saw them out in public." Another witness said Ruda "came out of the church yelling at (the victims) and told all of them to get 'the f--- off the property!'" then "got in (the victim's) face and said you need to 'f---ing leave.'" Ruda allegedly threatened to hit one of the victims and then threatened to shoot him, that person told police, and someone placed a call to 911. Other witnesses also said that Ruda pushed one of the victims and threatened to shoot them "on sight" and "threatened to kick the s--- out of them," according to the police report. Auxiliary Bay Village police Lt. Tim Colburn, who was at the service when the incident occurred, told officers Ruda shoved him when he tried to step in between the parties to deescalate the situation, according to the police report. Another witness quoted Ruda as saying, "I'll beat your ass. I'll blow your f---ing head off. I'll kill you," before Colburn stepped in and was shoved, according to the police report. The person who stood up and spoke in church after Gareau's homily, whose name was redacted in the police report but identifies as transgender, "was extremely scared by the entire encounter," they told the officer. That person "apologized several times" for standing up and speaking during the service, and told Ingraham "it was not pre-planned, just a reaction to the homily," which several witnesses described as transphobic. Gareau told police he didn't want to involve the law in the situation, and only wanted the person who stood up and spoke not to do it again, according to the police report.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.