A man at the center of the Tucson massage parlor scandal has accepted a plea agreement in connection with the alleged assault of a neighbor, records show.
Ulises Ruiz was arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a neighbor said last November that he attacked her with a bat. He pleaded guilty last week to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, court records show.
Ruiz in April rejected a plea agreement, the terms of which are unknown. His case was set for a jury trial in the spring.
In the plea, Ruiz faces up to six months in jail and three years’ probation. A sentencing hearing is set for later this month.
In November 2014, the neighbor and her husband were taking photographs of cars in the parking lot on Ruiz’s property, believing that illegal activity was taking place. According to police records, the couple had made multiple reports to law enforcement of suspicious activity, but nothing was done.
They began taking photos of expensive cars in the parking lot, saying the cars were out of place in the middle-class neighborhood on the north side.
The victim said Ruiz confronted her to ask what she was doing, then hit her in the shoulder with a small bat and took her phone.
Police detained Ruiz that night, but he wasn’t arrested until several weeks later. He was released from jail after his girlfriend fed $15,000 cash into an automated bail machine in the jail’s lobby for nearly an hour, according to court records.
In recent months, Ruiz has been linked to a long-running illegal prostitution ring and the three-year investigation into a business, “By Spanish,” that resulted in the termination of six Tucson police employees.
In January, police raided almost a dozen properties associated with the businesses, seizing two vehicles, thousands of dollars in cash and hundred of other items.
No one was arrested and no one has been charged with any crimes.
The investigation was turned over to the Pima County Attorney’s Office several months ago, but no decision has been made about charges.
In October, the county prosecutor’s office declined to charge any of the Tucson police employees.
