Madison police shooting: Corey Ruiz's prior history with police

MADISON, Wis. - As the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation reviews the evidence in the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Corey Ruiz by Madison Police last week, public records shed light on the degree to which Ruiz had previously interacted with City of Madison police – not to mention other police departments in Dane County. 

Corey Ruiz criminal history

The backstory:

More than two dozen criminal complaints dating back nearly 20 years show not only that Ruiz had a violent criminal history, but that he had repeatedly engaged in physical struggles with police.

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Over the course of two decades, Ruiz was charged nine separate times – and convicted eight times – of resisting, obstructing, threatening or injuring police officers. Five of those cases involved City of Madison police. Others involved Town of Madison, Sun Prairie, Fitchburg and State Capitol police.

In a 2021 case, four City of Madison police officers said Ruiz resisted arrest and threatened officers. According to prosecutors, Ruiz said:

• "I'll beat the [expletive] out of you."
• "I'll knock your [expletive] lenses to your eyes."
• "You better kill me now."
• "I hope the next offender you come across kills you and everyone you care about."

Madison police do not have body-worn cameras, so FOX6 News has no way to independently verify if Ruiz made those statements or if the quotations are accurate. However, Ruiz did plead guilty to making threats in that case.

Ruiz family attorneys

What they're saying:

In a statement to FOX6 News, Ruiz family attorney B'Ivory LaMarr wrote:

"As we have said from the beginning, Mr. Ruiz was far more than a collection of prior court records. While aspects of his past are matters of public record, they do not answer the central question in this case: whether the actions taken by law enforcement on the day Mr. Ruiz lost his life were lawful, reasonable, and consistent with constitutional standards.

"Like every member of our community, Mr. Ruiz was entitled to due process and to be treated with dignity, regardless of his history. His family deserves a full, fair, and transparent examination of the facts surrounding his death.

"Because this remains an active legal matter, we will not comment on individual allegations or attempt to litigate the case through the media. Our focus remains on ensuring that all the evidence is gathered and evaluated so that the truth, not selective portions of Mr. Ruiz's past, determines the public's understanding of what occurred.

"While aspects of his past are matters of public record, they do not answer the central question in this case: Whether the actions taken by law enforcement on the day Mr. Ruiz lost his life were lawful, reasonable and consistent with constitutional standards."

Competency concerns

Dig deeper:

Another Ruiz family lawyer, Ben Crump, said last week Ruiz may have had challenges with mental health.

In 2022, Ruiz was charged with battery after getting into a fight in the Dane County Jail. In that case, his attorney raised competency concerns, saying Ruiz could not remember why he was in jail and would only give one-word answers to his questions. However, there is nothing in the public record that suggests he was ever found not competent. Ruiz was ultimately convicted in that case.

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In a 2021 sentencing, Ruiz himself told the judge he had issues with his mental capacity that caused him to seek out drugs to "mummify all the bad memories" of things he had been through. There is no indication of any specific mental health diagnosis or treatment.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Bryan Polcyn and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.