PUTNAM COUNTY
An arrest has been made in connection with an early February shooting in Putnam County, but no one has been charged for the shooting itself, Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sills said.
The victim, 67-year-old Ralph Rella, was a night manager at the Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Lake Oconee. Rella left work at 11:50 p.m. on Feb.8 and was driving south along State Route 44 to his home in Forsyth, according to Sills.
After Rella crossed the bridge from Greene County into Putnam, somewhere between Scott and Harmony roads, a white car reportedly pulled up behind him and then moved alongside of him. Someone inside the car opened fire on Rella’s 2012 Sonata, according to Sills.
One of the bullets passed through the driver’s side window and hit Rella in the arm. The gunman fired multiple times and then sped on down the road. Rella drove himself to Putnam General Hospital for treatment. From there, he was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Macon and has since recovered.
Sills and his deputies spent the entire night combing that stretch of roadway searching for casings and ammunition, and the investigation continued for the next couple of weeks as they sought and watched video evidence taken from cameras along Rella’s route of travel from the Ritz to Putnam General.
Rella and another Ritz employee, later identified as Danny Rodriguez Rivera, reportedly had a confrontation earlier that evening during work. Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Justin Brock questioned Rivera after the shooting, but Rivera denied leaving the Ritz-Carlton during his shift that night.
The next day, he also told Sills that he had stayed at work until his shift ended. But security video footage from the luxury resort hotel reveals differently, according to the sheriff.
The video shows that Rella left work at 10 minutes till midnight, but about 10-20 minutes before he left, Rivera and two others went outside and were taking a break in the parking lot, Sills said. A minute or two before Rella comes out, the other two went back inside, but Rivera stayed in his car.
“The video shows him leaving work and following Rella down Lake Oconee Trail, and then it shows him coming back to the Ritz later that night,” Sills said.
The sheriff said other video footage from various cameras on Hwy. 44 at Scott Road and at the intersection of Harmony and Old Phoenix roads show Rivera’s white car behind Rella’s, but none show any gunfire.
Danny Rodriguez Rivera, 37, of Lena Lane, Eatonton, was arrested on April 8 and charged with one count of making false statements (felony) – Greene County, one count of making false statements (felony) – Putnam County, and one count of driving without a license (misdemeanor), according to jail reports.