‘I will kill you both’: Jai Ruseler pleads guilty to number of assaults in Apollo Bay

An Apollo Bay man working at an ice-cream shop assaulted multiple people in unprovoked attacks over a three-month period and also made rape and murder threats when he was drunk.

Jai Ruseler. Picture: Facebook

An Apollo Bay ice cream shop worker assaulted multiple people in unprovoked attacks over a three-month period and also made rape and murder threats while he was drunk.

Jai Ruseler, 29, grew up in Torquay and had aspirations of becoming a professional AFL player, however a court heard his dreams were cut short when suffered an injury as a teenager.

Ruseler pleaded guilty to a number of charges in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday, including making threats to kill, threatening to inflict serious injury, unlawful assault, behaving in an offensive manner in a public place, recklessly causing injury and assault with a weapon.

A court summary revealed Ruseler was at the Apollo Bay harbour about 11.06pm on February 19 when he attacked a man looking for his dog.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Kiley Gray said Ruseler began to assault the victim after making fun of him for not being able to look after his dog.

Ruseler shined a flashlight in the victim’s face and struck him in the face, which caused the man to fall to the ground in a motionless state for 15 seconds.

“The accused walked back and dragged him away from the edge of the wharf, and grabbed an object and assaulted him on the right hand,” Constable Gray said.

The court was told the victim had lacerations to his head and appeared to have a bone protruding from his finger.

When police arrived at the scene, they couldn’t find the victim.

In another incident, Ruseler was drunk and appeared to be holding a bottle of wine when he threatened managers at a youth hostel at Apollo Bay on March 19.

At the time of the offence Ruseler was staying at the Apollo Bay Eco YHA and was told by site managers to calm down because he was upsetting guests.

Ruseler became aggressive towards the two managers and said: “I will kill you both, I’m going to slit your throat, I’m going to rape you up the a---, I’m going to tear you up the a---with this bottle.”

Police were unable to find Ruseler him when they arrived on scene and he was eventually interviewed by police on March 21.

Ruseler also threatened a landscaper on January 19 after asking him if he had any work available for him.

Constable Gray said Ruseler was aggressive towards the victim and told the landscaper he was lucky he wasn’t 20 years younger, otherwise he would smash his head into the pavement.

“The victim was fearful for his safety and Ruseler made a comment about the victim’s family and said ‘I will fix them up too’,” Constable Gray said.

A brief scuffle followed between the two after Ruseler tried to start a digger belonging to the victim.

The court was told a number of people intervened to de-escalate the situation.

Ruseler was arrested and interviewed on February 21.

Ruseler’s lawyer, Jacob Mildren told the court his client was under the influence of alcohol during the offences.

Magistrate Anne McGarvie said the offending against random strangers was “incredibly serious”.

Ruseler will be sentenced next week. 

Originally published as ‘I will kill you both’: Jai Ruseler pleads guilty to number of assaults in Apollo Bay