Phoenix Police announced on Friday that Daniel Mota Dos Reis, 36, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the burglary of Democrat gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs’s campaign headquarters.
“On October 25, 2022, Phoenix Police officers were dispatched to a commercial burglary call in the area of Central Avenue and Virginia Avenue. When officers arrived, they learned from the reporting party that an unknown man broke into their building the night before and stole multiple items,” according to the police report shared with the Arizona Sun Times.
The crime occurred on Monday when surveillance video captured Dos Reis leaving the commercial building in the evening. He reportedly stole an Apple keyboard, an Apple computer mouse, and a black Nikon camera worth $1180 in total. On Wednesday night, a patrol officer saw images of the footage showing Dos Reis, who the officer recognized as a suspect arrested earlier that day for a separate commercial burglary. He was still in jail for that separate crime and was about to be released before the officer contacted the jail, and Dos Reis was re-arrested. The stolen items were then returned.
Authorities booked him into Maricopa County jail on one count of Third-Degree Burglary. His bond currently sits at $5,000, and his next court appearance is Wednesday, November 2nd.
Dos Reis is a repeat offender. His booking on October 26th was for several other charges, including criminal trespassing and burglary, and assault.
The Sun Times reached out to the Phoenix Police Department and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for additional details, but neither had more information they could share on this case.
According to his Facebook page and LinkedIn, he has worked as an accountant and content manager. Moreover, he is an immigrant from Luanda, Angola, and reportedly a self-proclaimed Democrat. However, one company Dos Reis listed as a former employer on his Facebook account, which wished to remain anonymous, told the Sun Times they had no record of Dos Reis ever working for them.
The Sun Times reached out to his other past employers and ICE to confirm his previous employment eligibility and citizenship status but did not get a response by press time.
The controversy began when Hobbs’ campaign responded to the break-in Tuesday, insinuating that her Republican opponent, Kari Lake, and her allies were responsible for the attack by “spreading dangerous misinformation and inciting threats against anyone they see fit.” In response to the statement, Lake said this situation sounded “like a Jessie Smollett part 2.”
Statement from our campaign on tonight's news: pic.twitter.com/OLqPMa5pYt
— Katie Hobbs (@katiehobbs) October 27, 2022
Yet, even after the arrest was made public, Hobbs still took shots at Lake for suggesting the incident was staged and refusing to condemn threats to politicians.
Megan Taros, who claimed to have lived in the same complex as Dos Reis, said it is unlikely that this crime was politically motivated based on his past behavior.
Really cringe to watch the unhinged takes on Daniel Mota Dos Reis. I lived in the same complex as him for a while, saw him all the time, big talker. I’m not going to share what’s not mine to share, but anyone who thinks politics played a role needs to log off.
— Megan A. Taros (@megataros) October 27, 2022
To respond to the allegations, Lake held a press conference on Thursday and blasted Hobbs and the fake news media for perpetuating claims she was responsible for the incident. Lake said it is no joke when someone gets broken into and clarified that her comparison between this case and Jessie Smollett was not to suggest the crime was staged but that it was a story used to make Republicans look bad. She said if reporters had waited, instead of covering Hobbs’ statement immediately, they would have seen this was just an ordinary burglary, but wanted the opportunity to bash Lake, who is currently leading in the polls.
Moreover, when questioned about the burglary by the press after the incident, Hobbs refused to talk.
AFTER accusing my team of coordinating a Watergate style break-in of her office, Katie Hobbs has now flip-flopped and DOES NOT want to talk about the crime
This comes AFTER arrest was made and NO political motivation confirmed. pic.twitter.com/lb7YAwl3eN
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 27, 2022
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Daniel Alexandre Mota Dos Reis” by Arre.st. Background Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Katie Hobbs.
