GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – Ryan Wesley Routh was no stranger to law enforcement in Guilford County, North Carolina, long before his arrest in an alleged assassination attempt on former president Trump at a golf course.
Routh allegedly camped outside the golf course in West Palm Beach with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, according to court documents filed Monday. He is accused of lying in wait for the former president before a Secret Service agent opened fire, thwarting the potential attack.
From the 90s to the early 2000s, he racked up a slew of charges ranging from driving with a suspended license, which is a misdemeanor, to possessing a weapon of mass destruction, a felony.
In Greensboro, one retired police officer interacted with Routh more than 100 times, including when Routh was booked into jail for barricading himself inside his business with an automatic rifle.
Retired Greensboro officer and military veteran Eric Rasecke was a seven-time Officer of the Year winner who served Greensboro police for over 26 years. He had constant interactions with Routh throughout his tenure, but none of them were violent.
“I had been dealing with Mr. Routh from the latter part of the 1990s to the early 2000s,” Rasecke said. “He resided in my patrol beat, and his business was in my patrol beat as well.”
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Routh’s business, United Roofing Company, was near the Greensboro Coliseum. His home was a mile away from there on Hiatt Street. He drove a truck for his roofing company.
North Carolina state records show his license was revoked in conjunction with a motor vehicle violation in Nov. 2001.
“His license was suspended. He allowed all of his employees to drive without licenses, had no insurance on any of his vehicles, and everyone in the Greensboro Police Department knew it,” Rasecke said.
That made Routh a regular with the GPD.
“It’s almost like blatantly saying, ‘Here I am’ … He would be constantly pulled over for those traffic violations,” Rasecke said.
Routh’s involvement in what federal authorities call a second attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump brought all the memories back for Rasecke.
He was there in the aftermath of the 2002 incident where Routh was pulled over yet again and ran to barricade himself inside United Roofing with a fully automatic rifle.
“He runs up into the business. Law enforcement, the only thing they can do at that time is think about protecting themselves and the general public, so they locked down the area, closed off the roadways (and) called in the negotiation teams,” he said.
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The resolution, to Rasecke, was similar to what authorities say Routh did in Florida 22 years later.
“He came out peacefully … and surrendered himself,” he said.
He is alarmed by what he calls a big change in the man he used to encounter so often.
In Florida, Routh once again had an automatic firearm, according to police, hence the charge of a convicted felon possessing a firearm.
The 2002 weapon of mass destruction charge was a felony, and records show another felony in 2012 for possession of stolen goods. His sentences were probation and parole.
