Brooklyn Park employee was on city-funded trip at time of Atlanta arrest, records show

Brooklyn Park’s public works director was on a city-funded trip when he was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes in Atlanta last month, according to records obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

Daniel J. Ruiz is charged with rape, aggravated sodomy, false imprisonment and battery in Fulton County, Georgia.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS previously reported Ruiz was arrested the morning of Sept. 8 at the Club Wyndham Atlanta hotel in connection with a reported sexual assault inside a hotel room. A warrant states that the victim tried to escape the hotel room, but Ruiz forced her back inside and continued the assault.

An Atlanta Police Department incident report notes that the victim was treated at a hospital afterward for injured ribs.

Ruiz’s defense attorney, Gabe Banks, said his client “denies any wrongdoing and remains confident that his name will be cleared of all allegations through the judicial process.”

City credit card receipts Ruiz filed with the City of Brooklyn Park show he and another city official visited Atlanta and stayed at that hotel for the American Public Works Association’s annual PWX conference, which ran from Sept. 8-11.

That trip — including the cost of group membership dues, conference registration, flights and hotels — cost taxpayers $7,914.09, according to credit card receipts. Ruiz’s registration, airline ticket and hotel room made up $3,275.22 of that total.

As of Tuesday, Ruiz is still employed by Brooklyn Park and remains on family and medical leave, city spokesperson Risikat Adesaogun said.

Court records show Ruiz had a preliminary hearing in Fulton County Superior Court on Oct. 1. No future hearings have been scheduled in the case.