A veteran Carol Stream firefighter left his post as battalion chief last week after pleading guilty to sending a letter to the FBI last year threatening to blow up the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago, authorities said Wednesday.
Terry Ruch, 52, pleaded guilty June 14 to typing the letter last April and attaching another person’s name to it, apparently in an attempt to get that person into trouble, FBI officials said. There was never any real threat to the building, officials said.
Ruch, who had no criminal history, was arrested in October and charged with felony communication of a threat, officials said. He received 2 years’ probation and was fined $2,000, they said.
He retired from the department Friday. A family member at Ruch’s home and Ruch’s attorney declined to comment.
Ruch was a well-respected firefighter with 30 years of “exemplary service” in the department, Fire Chief Mark Bodane said.
“What he did off-duty was not indicative of his service to the fire district,” Bodane said. “It’s a very unfortunate situation.”
According to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Ruch typed the letter and mailed it to the FBI around April 19, 2005. The letter stated, “To protest this Governments (sic) continued interference in the lives of its citizens. And to honor the memory of a true hero to the cause who struck in Oklahoma City 10 years ago. I will remotely detonate two explosive devices in or around the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago on 4/25/05.” On the back of the letter, Ruch typed another man’s name and phone number, according to the plea.
When FBI officials first received the letter, they investigated it as a real threat, said Frank Bochte, spokesman for the department’s district office in Chicago.
“At first glance, one does not have the ability to determine if it’s real or not,” he said. “We have to take it at face value.”
But within a short time, investigators were able to determine the threat had no merit, and evolved from a personal disagreement Ruch had with someone, he said.
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arozas@tribune.com
