Rowe Family Genealogy

The Genealogy of the Rowe Family of Riceville, Ontario and Stewkley, England

Dale Alan Hughes

Male 1962 - 1997  (35 years)


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  • Name Dale Alan Hughes 
    Born 17 Oct 1962  Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 19 Nov 1997  Santa Rosa, Sonoma, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • 11/19/97: Dale Hughes, age 35
      Killed by Santa Rosa Police Office Gregory Wojcik
      Dale Hughes, a tugboat captain, was waiting for a Greyhound bus at 9:30 at night. He planned to ship out soon from Portland, Oregon. The bus stop is at a corner known for drug activity.
      According to police, Officer Wojcik, who was cruising by, suspected a drug deal was going down and went to investigate. Dale took a swig of alcohol from a bottle, allegedly pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and fired on the officer. A firefight followed. When it was over Dale Hughes was dead and the officer injured.
      According to the family's attorney, eyewitnesses tell a significantly different story. Over three months after the killing, the Santa Rosa Police Department has yet to produce one shred of evidence to support their contention that Dale opened fire on an officer or even held a weapon.

      Also this next story:

      On the night of November 19, Dale Hughes was gunned down by the Santa Rosa police. The Press Democrat reported that Dale was a drunken drug dealer with a long criminal history and that he had shot first at an officer who had noticed something suspicious while cruising by the bus station.
      I recently had an opportunity to speak to the family. They have unearthed quite a different story from at least two eye witnesses. I have had conversations with Dale's father and stepmother, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Hughes of San Rafael. The following sequence of events comes from those talks. They asked that I tell their story.
      Dale worked as a tugboat captain; he had no history of drug use. Dale ran 3 miles a day and worked out a lot; he was in excellent shape. He had recently separated from his wife. He was very close to his father and step-mother. He called them a couple times a day and visited them 2 or 3 times a week with his two-year old daughter whom he adored.
      Dale had decided to go on two job interviews in Portland. He anticipated taking a job on a cruise ship immediately and decided not drive up. He left his truck at home and planned to travel by bus. He was waiting for the Portand bus at the station at Santa Rosa Avenue and Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa at around 9:30 at night. He'd heard that there was a lot of drug activity on that corner, so he had put a pistol in luggage.
      Dale went into the liquor store nearby. The woman who waited on him described him as clean, well-dressed, alert, very polite, with a great big smile. He was not intoxicated. He got a half pint of H&H, paid and walked out.
      Two people came up to him and started to hassle him. He did not want to be bothered. He was minding his own business and talking to a girl. They would not leave him alone. Frustrated, Dale got the pistol out of his luggage and stuck it in the waistband of his pants. At some point, someone called the police and said Dale was at the bus station dealing drugs and had a gun.
      Four policemen arrived. Without any kind of verbal warning that they were police, they approached Dale from two directions, 3 in front and one from behind. When Dale heard them, he thought it was the people who had been hassling him earlier. He took a swig of the whiskey and turned around to meet a hail of gunfire. The cop behind Dale was hit with a bullet fired by another cop. Dale received at least 11 bullet wounds.
      When the shooting was over, a bystander moved toward the helpless, fallen Dale. A cop told her, "Don't come near him, he's dangerous." A cop went up to Dale lying on the ground bleeding and kicked him in the head and said, "If you move, I am going to blow your fucking head away." A cop went over to Dale and removed the gun from the waistband of his pants and threw it down on the pavement; Dale had never fired the weapon.
      An ambulance arrived for the wounded cop. Dale was left on the pavement; he may still have been alive at that time. His body remained there at the strip mall uncovered until 11:30 the next morning. His parents were not notified that he had been killed until 1:30 the day after he died. By that time, police had cleaned up the site.
      Dale's 17-year old brother went up to Santa Rosa to investigate. When a cop saw what he was doing, he said, "What are you doing investigating this again?" Dale's father, age 70 and once a policeman in Deerborn, Michigan, has now taken on much of the investigation. The family has learned that a nearby convenience store has outside video cameras. When Mr. Hughes asked the police where the tapes were, he was told that they were not removed and held as evidence; the tapes were recorded over because they "were not important."
      The family was able to talk to eye witnesses. One eyewitness they spoke to has since been arrested. The family was told he was in the Sonoma County jail. When the family went to see him there, they were told he had been moved to the Marin County jail. When they went there, they were told he was not there. So far, the family has not been able to find him again.
      The family has hired a private detective and are having an independent autopsy performed. The body was released to them only on December 2, nearly two weeks after the shooting. The family still has not had a funeral.
    Person ID I282  Rowe Genealogy
    Last Modified 25 Jun 2005 

    Father Living 
    Mother Virginia Lorraine Wonser,   b. 16 Sep 1929, Virginia, St. Louis, Minnesota, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Aug 1969, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 39 years) 
    Family ID F108  Group Sheet

    Children 
     1. Living
    Last Modified 25 Jun 2005 
    Family ID F2451  Group Sheet


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