The campaign headquarters of Arizona’s Democratic candidate for governor and current Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was burglarized earlier this week and an arrest has been made, according to her campaign manager and local police.
Authorities have not, however, indicated that Hobbs’ office was targeted in a political crime.
The Phoenix Police Department initially said it received a 911 call about a break-in at Hobbs’ downtown office in Arizona’s capital city on Tuesday afternoon around 2 p.m. local time. Officers responded to the scene and learned that several items had been taken from the property the night before. Police did not initially specify what those items were, citing an “active investigation.”
The police report, reviewed by ABC News, showed that a digital keyboard, a computer mouse and a camera were taken.
On Thursday, Phoenix police said a suspect, 36-year-old Daniel Mota Dos Reis, had been arrested and matched surveillance footage from the scene.
Police also identified Dos Reis as a suspect in another commercial burglary in the area. It was unclear if he has retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Nothing in the police documents reviewed by ABC News, including the report from Phoenix officers, indicated a political motive.
Hobbs’ campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, said in a statement after Dos Reis’ arrest that “we are very thankful that the Phoenix Police Department acted so quickly to arrest a suspect. We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as this investigation unfolds.”
With less than two weeks until midterm Election Day and early voting underway, Hobbs and Republican candidate Kari Lake are in a close and combative contest for Arizona’s governorship. Lake, 53, is a conservative former television news anchor with no political experience whose gubernatorial candidacy has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Lake has fervently echoed Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.
Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs speaks at a press conference calling for abortion rights outside the Evo A. DeConcini U.S. Courthouse in Tucson, Arizona, on Oct. 7, 2022.
Mario Tama/Getty Images, File
Hobbs, 52, has declined to debate her Republican opponent, saying she felt it wouldn’t be worthwhile. In response, Lake taunted Hobbs to face her, painting her Democratic rival as having something to hide for refusing to debate.
DeMont, Hobbs’ campaign manager, said in previous remarks that the intimidation “won’t work” and that Hobbs “will win this race.”
When asked for comment on the burglary, Lake told reporters after a campaign event in Scottsdale on Wednesday that it “sounds like a Jussie Smollett part two,” referring to a hoax the actor was implicated in. (“Kari Lake’s preposterous allegation that this break-in was staged is unfounded and her,” DeMont said in her Thursday statement.)
“I don’t even know where her campaign office is,” Lake said on Wednesday. “I’m assuming it’s in a basement somewhere because that’s where she’s been campaigning.”
