Arrest in break in at Katie Hobbs campaign headquaters

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Phoenix police on Thursday arrested a person suspected of breaking into the campaign headquarters of Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs two days earlier.

Phoenix police said they had arrested Daniel Mota Dos Reis, 36, in connection to a burglary. While they did not reference the Hobbs incident directly, a source with knowledge of the probe confirmed the arrest related to the campaign break-in.

In recent days, Hobbs' campaign and Republican opponent Kari Lake have traded barbs over the incident.

The Hobbs camp has criticized Lake, who has embraced Donald Trump's false claims of widespread U.S. election fraud, for failing to condemn threats to election workers and voters. Hobbs' campaign said Lake's harsh rhetoric and embrace of Trump's election falsehoods created the conditions for the burglary to take place.

Lake has called any attempt to blame her campaign "absolutely absurd."

In a statement, police said that an officer had recognized Dos Reis on a news story that displayed an image from security footage of the alleged burglary.

The man accused of breaking into Katie Hobbs’ campaign headquarters may have been squatting in a nearby office building for the past week. The burglary at Hobbs’ office is making national headlines, and it doesn’t seem to have been politically motivated.

Surveillance video shows the suspect Daniel Dos Reis, 36, coming off an elevator inside an office building near Central and Virginia Avenues in Phoenix. The property manager, Bill Moore, said Dos Reis made himself at home. “We became aware that he was breaking into the building and appears he was living on one of the upper floors,” Moore said.

Moore said he was likely doing that for about a week, using the hallway plants as a bathroom. Another video shows him using a hammer on the entry door, making it much easier for him to get in. “I have video, lots of video of him just coming and going and kind of harming the magnetic locks on the doors,” he said. “Before we confronted him he seemed very articulate, and friendly, he asked ‘oh how are you guys doing? You work in the building’ and that sort of thing,” he continued. Moore said Dos Reis was intimidating. “I’m looking up at him and he’s got to be 6′4′',” he explained.

As the property manager, Moore said he tried for several days to get him out, following him as he left while he called the police. A police report from Saturday showed when officers arrived, Dos Reis fled, pushing over a 60-year-old security guard to get away.

Then investigators said came the burglary at Katie Hobbs’ campaign headquarters just a few blocks away. A police report shows he stole a camera, an Apple keyboard, and a mouse. On Wednesday, Moore said he spotted Dos Reis again; this time, police were able to arrest him. Later that day, one of the officers involved in the arrest watched Arizona’s Family and saw the photo. She realized the connection.

Moore said it was clear to him Dos Reis was no political operative. “To me he just seemed like a homeless person that likes to break into places and that sort of thing,” Moore said.