Man arrested for sparking fire at Arizona Democratic Headquarters
Phoenix police release surveillance tape of incident
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Phoenix police say surveillance cameras helped them identify the prime suspect in a recent fire at the Arizona Democratic Party Headquarters.
The blaze broke out early last Friday morning. It destroyed the part of the building that housed both the state and Maricopa County party offices. The fire destroyed computers, tablets, phone-banking equipment, campaign literature and years of documents.
Related: Fire at Arizona Democratic headquarters may be arson
Now Phoenix police say surveillance cameras caught the man who set the building on fire.
"They're still going through some of that video surveillance, but the primary one that we were able to see did provide information on who this person was." said Sgt. Mercedes Fortune with Phoenix police.
Fortune says the video shows 29-year-old Matthew Egler breaking the building's glass doors, putting something inside, and then setting it on fire. The sergeant said the video wasn't the only clue officers found.
"There is social media posts he was using and he was providing some information about that incident, and that's going to be used, obviously, when he goes to court." said Fortune.
Officers arrested Egler on one count of arson early Wednesday morning. Court documents show Egler was a former Democratic precinct committee person who was later banned from party headquarters. Police say he set fire to the building to retaliate.
No one got hurt in the blaze.
