Daniel Mota Dos Reis, 36, the man arrested in connection with burglarizing Democrat gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs’ campaign headquarters, is reportedly an illegal immigrant in the United States and has been released from jail after being granted bail. The campaign of Hobbs’ Republican opponent Kari Lake called this another blow-up in her face.
“Katie Hobbs’ wild gambit to blame Kari Lake for the break-in is backfiring spectacularly. It now appears that the suspected burglar of Hobbs’ office is “at large” and out on the streets yet again due to the insane pro-illegal immigration, pro-crime policies pushed by Katie Hobbs and the radical Left,” said the Lake campaign in a statement emailed to reporters. “Kari Lake will fight to put an end to sanctuary cities and the Democrats’ insane bail policies and make sure authorities can’t defy immigration authorities and catch-and-release illegal immigrant criminals back onto the streets. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about Katie Hobbs.”
The Arizona Sun Times reached out to the Hobbs campaign and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more information but did not receive a response.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office told The Sun Times it cannot enforce immigration laws itself, following the Melendres court order.
12 News reported that Mota is a citizen of Portugal who came to the United States as a registered student in 2018. However, ICE told the outlet that Mota had failed to keep his status as a student at an academic institute and violated his terms of admission.
According to Fox News, Mota had bonded out of MCSO custody before an immigration detainer could be issued.
“At the time the officer conducted records checks, the individual was not identified as being amenable to removal, therefore a detainer was not lodged. The officer continued an investigation into the subject and found additional evidence that identified the individual as being in violation of his immigration status,” an ICE spokesperson said.
That spokesperson also revealed that Mota is currently at large.
According to Mota’s Facebook page, he began attending an Arizona university in 2018 and claims to attend still. However, as reported by The Sun Times, his Facebook page may contain inconsistencies, as one employer he claimed to work for had no record of his employment.
The Sun Times reached out to the university he attended, which wished to remain anonymous, and was told he neither received a degree from the institute nor is a currently enrolled student.
Court documents revealed that Mota was witnessed trespassing at a Phoenix office complex near McDowell Road and Central Avenue three times between October 22 and 25, one of those offices being Hobbs’ campaign headquarters. He stole three pieces of technology from the headquarters and was caught on surveillance. Then, on Wednesday, October 26, he was confronted by police and ran, pushing a 60-year-old female security guard to the ground in the process. He was arrested but not linked to the Hobbs burglary at the time.
However, that same day, a patrol officer viewed a news story showing Mota in the surveillance footage, and he recognized Mota from the earlier arrest. Mota was about to be released from jail for Wednesday’s arrest but was re-arrested, and the stolen items were returned.
While Mota did not appear to have any political motives, Hobbs took the opportunity to make it political. She blamed Lake for inciting the incident, and several news outlets reported her claims. Lake then held a press conference to confirm she had nothing to do with the crime and blasted Hobbs and the media for trying to defame her before the general election.
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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].
