Late Thursday developments in the case of Christopher “Direct D” Ruff saw Ruff receive temporary representation from Russell Facente, Esquire, who filed a motion to reconsider the $108,500.00 bond set for his client as Ruff’s charges have been greatly reduced since his arrest on Monday.
The controversial YouTuber was arrested on Monday when he went to the Apache County courthouse to file a motion for a hearing to dispute a temporary restraining order brought against him by former girlfriend Heather Russell.
Ruff had moved to Apache County some years ago and had established a new life for himself on the property, though he had outstanding warrants for failing to show up at court hearings in Maricopa County.
Russel and Ruff had a whirlwind romance earlier in the year that led to Russell briefly coming to live at Ruff’s property in Apache County, Arizona. While Ruff allowed Russell to bring her young son and live on his property, the two seemed to be a good match as they appeared on livestreams together throughout the spring and early summer on Ruff’s various YouTube channels.
Cracks, however, began to appear when Russell apparently became jealous of another woman living on Ruff’s property. The cracks eventually led to a split and the two parted ways at the start of the summer.
Russell then began to complain to neighbors about Ruff and started to go on livestreams belonging to known enemies of ruff, Generally Specific and Christopher “For Public Safety” Reiter. On those livestreams, Russell said that Ruff could be verbally abusive towards her but specified on multiple occasions that Ruff had never physically assaulted her.
Since then, Russell had been living on Ruff’s property until she finally left earlier this month. As she was leaving, she filed a police report stating that Ruff was blocking her from leaving his property. Police were called to the scene but refused to wake Ruff since it was so late at night.
Ruff would later be served with the temporary protective order. The Apache County Sheriff’s Department declined to take Ruff into custody at that time.
On Monday, Ruff went to the courthouse to file his motion and was arrested on new warrants from Apache County and has been held in their jail since then.
Ruff was initially charged with:
13-3601 Domestic Violence Felony
13-2921.A.1 Harassment: Contact/Comm Misdemeanor
13-2904.A.3 Disorderly Conduct: Language Misdemeanor
13-2923.A.2 Stalking: Fear Death Felony
13-2923.A.1 Stalking: Emotional Distress Felony
He was being held on $100,000.00 for these charges.
Later, authorities added the outstanding charges from Maricopa County:
RULE 3.1D RULES OF CRIM PROCEDURE/PRE-ADJUDICATION RULE WARRANT
13-810 Obstructing Court Order Misdemeanor
13-810 Obstructing Court Order Misdemeanor
13-810 Obstructing Court Order Misdemeanor
13-810 Obstructing Court Order Misdemeanor
These charges, which are separate from the Apache County charges, added another $8,500.00 to Ruff’s bond.
Following the arrest, Russell went on Christopher “For Public Safety” Reiter’s livestream, celebrating the arrest. She indicated that there was no incident at the courthouse, as Ruff simply was arrested when he went to the courthouse to file his motion.
Ruff’s friends would later hold a fundraising livestream, raising around $2,000.00 for his release, with one friend indicating that she was willing to put up her house as collateral for the $100,000.00 bond.
The YouTuber’s charges would then be reduced to:
13-2923.A.1 Stalking: Emotional Distress Felony
13-2916.A.1 (DV) UNLAWFUL KNOWINGLY DIRECT LEWD ELEC COMM Misdemeanor
Facente’s filing indicated that he was representing Ruff in limited fashion as Ruff was seeking a public defender to handle the charges against him.
In his filing, he argued:
Defendant Christopher Dane Ruff, through undersigned counsel, pursuant to Rule 7.4( c ), Ariz. R. Crim. P ., motions this Court to reconsider the bail conditions set during his Initial Appearance for the following reasons:
- On information and belief, the determined bail amount was based off a charge based bond schedule, rather than Mr. Ruffs individual circumstances, in contravention of Rule of Criminal Procedure 7 .3( d)(2)(A).
- Regardless of whether a schedule was used, bail was calculated in part based on the seriousness of the 4 or 5 charges alleged, including one Class 3 Felony. The complaint has subsequently been reduced to 2 charges, the most serious now alleged being a Class 5 Felony.
Mr. Ruff requests a hearing to be set to modify bail conditions to properly reflect an individualized determination of Mr. Ruff’s risk of non-appearance for the crimes alleged in the complaint, risk of harm to others or the community, and his financial circumstances. It is further requested that Defense Counsel be permitted to appear telephonically.
Facente’s motion may face the outstanding problem of Ruff famously refusing to appear in Maricopa County for court hearings. Even if Ruff’s bond in Apache County is reduced, he will still need to face the outstanding warrants from Maricopa County.
We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they happen.
This is a breaking news story.
