Cameron Ruebusch Gets 16 Years In Prison For Shooting Postal Worker Stephen Casazza In 2018
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for attempted murder, after he pleaded guilty last year to shooting a postal carrier in Elk Grove Village on New Year's Eve in 2018.
Cameron Ruebusch admitted to shooting Stephen Casazza as the postal worker was delivering mail around 6 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2018, on the 200 block of West Brantwood Avenue.
Prosecutors said Casazza had just completed a delivery when Ruebusch walked up to his vehicle, tapped on the passenger side door, and fired multiple shots.
After he'd been shot three times, Casazza got out of his vehicle and called for help. A nearby resident heard, called 911 and went to help the man, Elk Grove Village Police said at the time of the shooting. Casazza was taken to Lutheran General Hospital, where he underwent 3 ½ hours of surgery.
After the shooting, Ruebusch disposed of the gun, discarded the clothes he'd been wearing, and asked friends to lie to investigators about his whereabouts that night, according to federal prosecutors.
"The seriousness of defendant's crime cannot be overstated — he nearly killed a USPS mail carrier who was merely carrying out his official duties in delivering mail on New Year's Eve," Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Chester Choi argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "Defendant's actions were brazen, callous, and cowardly, and demonstrated a complete disrespect for the law."
Meantime, Ruebusch's accomplice, Ronald Beyer, who was accused of driving Ruebusch from the scene of the shooting, has pleaded not guilty and his case is still pending in federal court.
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