Ballot damaged after USPS mailbox set on fire in Phoenix

PHOENIX (TNND) – Phoenix authorities announced Thursday the arrest of a person suspected of setting fire to a mailbox that contained several ballots.

According to Phoenix police, the city fire department’s arson investigation team arrested a man named Dieter Klofkorn who admitted to lighting a piece of paper on fire before putting it in a United States Postal Service mailbox. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said The fire damaged several ballot papers.

Officers arrested Klofkorn on an unrelated warrant before questioning him about the fire while in custody, Sgt. Rob Scherer told reporters. According to Scherer, in this interview Klofkorn admitted to having committed arson.

He stated that, to put it simply, his reason for doing so was to be arrested. He had a desire for it,” the sergeant said. “Why that was his wish – we didn’t get that far.”

Scherer noted in a press release that Klofkorn was charged with arson. According to the sergeant, Klofkorn told police he did not know there were ballots in the mailbox.

“I understand the concern about this as we are in the early voting stages of the election. I understand the possibility that there were concerns that this was politically motivated or related to the election,” he said. “The suspect assured us that this was not the case.”

Gallego posted on social media Thursday that she was concerned about the fire.

“There is zero tolerance for criminal activity in our community and we work with all levels of government to bring the perpetrator to justice,” she wrote on X.

Scherer noted that while police understood concerns raised about the incident throughout the day, the task force never believed the suspected arson was politically motivated.

“There was never any … information that led us to believe that this might be related to the election or anything like that,” he said. “We have never received any indication or detail that would have suggested to us that this might be the case.”

Do you have any questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.