Reno NV April 5 2019 A homeless Reno man died on the roof of the Record Street shelter earlier this month, his body going undiscovered for as many as three days before he was found.

His death followed two attacks on shelter residents by individuals who had not been properly checked into the shelter, according to a city document. One man was stabbed and an elderly man suffered a “brutal assault.”

The violent incidents occurred even after city of Reno staff asked the shelter to implement heightened safety measures.

“How do you lose somebody for … days,” Sparks Councilman Ed Lawson asked in an interview with the Reno Gazette Journal. “There were so many failures, the cameras and elevator and locking doors and security. You lose a guy? It’s sad enough that someone died there that we’re trying to protect and help. The gruesome part of it makes it worse.”

The trend of “violent incidents,” has alarmed local officials.

In a March 18 letter, the Reno, Sparks and Washoe County managers detailed the safety problems at the shelter and asked Volunteers of America again to improve safety.

“While we understand there are current capacity issues, it is our continued expectation that all necessary measures be taken to protect our most vulnerable residents,” the letter reads.

Volunteers of America has operated the homeless shelter complex on Record Street since 2008. The organization’s $3.5 million contract is funded by Reno, Sparks and Washoe County.

Washoe County Manager John Slaughter, Reno City Manager Sabra Newby and Sparks City Manager Neil Krutz all refused to take questions from the Reno Gazette Journal about the death at the joint facility. While the three governments pay for the contract, the city of Reno is in charge of it.

Pat Cashell, Northern Nevada’s regional director of Volunteers of America, said he believes his organization is already protecting those who use the over-capacity shelter and that the problem lies with the growing homeless population.

“Obviously, we do our best to keep everybody safe,” he said. “We do a really good job of doing that.”

“The current situation of homelessness has definitely outgrown the capacity of the shelter and puts people at risk,” he said.

Craig Ruston, 61, was discovered dead on the roof of the shelter on March 8, according to the Washoe County Medical Examiner. The cause of death is pending toxicology results.

Although his cause of death has not been establish, Cashell told the Reno Gazette Journal that it was from natural causes.

“As far as the gentleman passing away, he passed away from natural causes,” Cashell said.

According to the managers’ letter, Ruston was not a resident of the shelter.

“Although it is unknown at this time how long the individual was there, the last time he was tracked on camera was Tuesday March 5, 2019, when he was seen entering the men’s shelter,” the letter said.

Overnight temperatures that week were in the mid-30s. Questions remain about whether Ruston had been trapped on the roof, unable to get back through the door.

Before Ruston’s death, city of Reno staff had discovered that roof access had been unlocked and had no operational alarm system. They sent a letter to the VOA in December, asking the organization to fix the situation.

Cashell said they put alarms on the door, which is part of a fire exit, following that request.

Asked if Ruston set the alarm off when he went to the roof, Cashell said, “I have no idea. I wasn’t there that night.”

The managers also expressed concern that the man who was stabbed and the man who was assaulted were attacked by individuals who were not residents of the shelter and who had not been checked in for services.

Cashell said he had to confirm whether the attackers weren’t properly checked in, but noted that the shelter is a “public facility that is open to the public.” Non-residents routinely use the shelter to shower or warm up on cold nights.

“We have over 2,500 people access our shelter a day,” Cashell said.

“Is it acceptable? No. I want everyone to be safe,” Cashell said of the incidents.

Asked what the shelter can do to improve safety, Cashell demurred.

“My biggest concern is the growing population of homeless and what the shelter was built for,” he said. “What needs to be addressed is the growing number of homeless.”

The shelter has been over capacity for several years. The city of Reno has operated an overflow shelter and also helped erect a warming tent in the parking lot to handle the growing population.

Plans are in place to open new shelters for women, families and pregnant women on the state of Nevada’s adult mental health campus later this year.

Reno Police Chief Jason Soto said the shelter is one of his department’s top call generators.

Lawson said the shelter also generates the most ambulance calls for service.

Lawson, who said he volunteered to help staff the warming tent over the winter, described the shelter as a scary place.

“I was greeted by a Walmart sack full of human feces in the parking lot,” he said. “It seems to me that it’s gotten out of hand, but maybe that’s the way it’s been for a long time and we’re just now paying attention.”

The managers want VOA to consider a range of solutions to be considered, including potentially closing the homeless campus to non-residents, requiring more staff to be hired or adding more security personnel. They’ve called a meeting of the Community Homelessness Advisory Board, which includes county commissioners and council members from both cities, to address the issue.

“When our most vulnerable populations are seeking refuge at a shelter, it is imperative that their basic safety needs can be met,” said Councilman Oscar Delgado, who sits on the advisory board. “I hope that VOA’s administrators have already made improvements, and I look forward to hearing from them this Monday regarding their plan to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said she has a list of unanswered questions that she is hoping to hear answered at the meeting Monday.

“I have a lot of grave concerns about how it’s being ran and how that happened,” Schieve said.

Asked whether she still has confidence in VOA to run the shelter, Schieve said, “At this point, I don’t know. But Reno is very different and it’s changed fast. Before, running the shelter at capacity worked. Now it just doesn’t.”

Reno Gazette

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