A temporary election worker in Maricopa County, Arizona, charged with stealing a digital magnetic key from a tabulation center has been linked to another theft from the state Senate building. 

The Arizona Department of Public Safety announced on Thursday that 27-year-old Walter Ringfield, of Phoenix, had been connected to a theft reported to a trooper assigned to the Capitol District on June 19 at the Arizona Senate Building in Phoenix. The development comes after authorities earlier in the week had identified Ringfield as the suspect in a June 20 theft from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center. 

Troopers reviewed Senate security footage, which showed a suspect had entered a restricted area of the building and “removed numerous items from a security staff member’s desk,” DPS said. The stolen items included “challenge coins and other desk accessories,” according to the agency. 

Investigators later identified the suspect as Ringfield. A search warrant was ultimately served on his Phoenix residence, and detectives recovered the stolen items. 

ARIZONA ELECTION WORKER ACCUSED OF STEALING SECURITY DEVICE WAS HIRED DESPITE FELONY THEFT ARREST MONTHS PRIOR

Ringfield faces new charges, including trespassing, theft and burglary, DPS said. 

The incident occurred just a day before Ringfield was seen on security footage allegedly taking the items shortly after 5 p.m. at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center. 

The video showed him approaching a desk and multiple tabulators, then taking a red wrist lanyard containing the security fob and keys, a probable cause statement obtained by Fox News Digital says. 

Detectives with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ringfield on June 21 outside his home in Phoenix on suspicion of theft and criminal damage. 

At the time, the probable cause statement says, they observed a red plastic item inside Ringfield’s car matching the description of the missing lanyard.

Walter Ringfield was spotted on security footage removing a digital magnetic key from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on June 20. (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)

ARIZONA ELECTION WORKER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING SECURITY DEVICE FROM BALLOT TABULATION CENTER

Officials said the tabulation center theft required that the election equipment be reprogrammed, costing taxpayers approximately $20,000. 

Ringfield also was arrested in September 2023 after allegedly stealing $1,800 from a register during the course of his shift as a grocery store cashier in Phoenix, according to another probable cause statement obtained by Fox News Digital. That document also lists a prior arrest for disorderly conduct and fighting. 

The September 2023 arrest resulted in Ringfield entering a felony diversion program. 

At a press conference on Tuesday, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates admitted that Ringfield had been in a felony diversion program, but said that information did not come up during a criminal background check conducted before he was hired as a temporary election worker. He vowed that the incident would not “have any impact whatsoever on the primary,” which is scheduled for July 30.
 

Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates holds up a black security key as an example of one stolen from the tabulation center. (KSAZ)

At Tuesday’s press conference, Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner was asked if authorities had a reason to believe the theft from the ballot tabulation center was “politically motivated.” He said he could not speculate at this time, explaining that investigators “are still combing through a lot of digital evidence that were taken at the scene and going through items that were taken in the search warrant.” 

“We don’t have any indication at this point, but we’re not ruling it out. And we’re going to leave no stone unturned,” he said. 

The Texas district attorney charged with prosecuting two illegal immigrants for the murder of a 12-year-old Houston girl blamed a “broken system” that allowed the pair to allegedly commit the killing. 

Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 21, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, are charged with capital murder in the death of Jocelyn Nungaray, both of whom crossed illegally into the United States earlier this year.

“They should have never been released when they crossed over into El Paso, but we have a broken system, and Jocelyn’s death resulted. And it’s just hard when you know something could have been prevented like a child’s death,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told KPRC on Thursday.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING JOCELYN NUNGARAY WORE ICE ANKLE MONITOR 

Both suspects, who are Venezuelan nationals, allegedly lured Nungaray under a bridge and sexually assaulted her for two hours before she was strangled to death and left in a creek. Nungaray’s murder has amplified concerns over the vetting of migrants and the Biden administration’s border policies.

Ogg said the immigration system has been broken for decades, something many Texans have been aware of for quite some time. 

“We’ve seen it for a long time here. What’s different is we’re seeing people from other countries, it’s not just immigrants from Mexico,” she said. 

“We’re seeing immigrants from China, from the islands, from South America, like these individuals — that’s new. And I think it’s increasing the risk factor for regular people here,” added Ogg. “So I’m hoping our government will work together in a bipartisan fashion to keep the public safe by making our borders safer.”

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said the immigration system is broken as her office works to prosecute two illegal immigrants charged with killing a 12-year-old Houston girl. (Photo by Brett Comer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Peña Ramos was arrested by Border Patrol agents after entering the country illegally and released from custody, with ICE telling Fox News in a statement Friday that he had “illegally entered the U.S. without inspection, parole or admission by a U.S. immigration officer on an unknown date and at an unknown location.”

Nungaray’s murder has prompted calls for stronger border enforcement and accountability. 

“Our immigration system is broken, and if ever there was a case that reflected that, it’s this one,” Ogg said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ogg’s office. 

JOCELYN NUNGARAY MURDER: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING HOUSTON GIRL HAS BAIL SET AT $10M

Ogg, a Democrat, was unseated in her bid for a third term in March by former Harris County prosecutor Sean Teare, who won the Democratic primary for the DA’s office by a landslide. Teare will face off against Dan Simmons, the lone Republican candidate in the race, in November.

Meanwhile, crime in the county has become a concern for elected local and state officials. 

“Harris County has become a sanctuary for criminals, and the blame is not just on the Biden administration, but it’s on the DA’s office,” Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Republican who lives in Harris County, told Fox News Digital. 

“Harris County has become a sanctuary for criminals, and the blame is not just on the Biden administration, but it’s on the DA’s office.” 

— Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain

Cain also cited local criminal court judges “who have let the world know that Harris County is a safe place for criminals, illegal or legal or otherwise.” 

Prosecutors make recommendations, but judges are ultimately responsible for who gets released on bond, and the sentences imposed, he noted. 

Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, left, and Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel have been charged in the killing of Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston, Texas, on Monday, June 17. (Harris County Jail)

Peña Ramos and Martinez-Rangel are each being held on $10 million bond. Nungaray was laid to rest Thursday.