Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office confirms active investigation into Aug. 14 report

Sen. Ruben Gallego said on X that he was “absolutely heartbroken” after Arizona congressional candidate Bernadette Greene-Placentia alleged she was raped while alone repairing campaign signs in Sun City, a Phoenix suburb, on the night of Aug. 14, calling for those responsible to be held accountable.

“We cannot tolerate political or sexual violence in any form,” Gallego wrote. “Those responsible must be held accountable.”

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday that it is investigating after Greene-Placentia filed a report on Aug. 31. A spokesman for the office declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation. The agency’s report about the alleged incident will not be available until the probe is completed, the spokesman said in an email.

Greene-Placentia, a Democrat, is challenging Republican Rep. Abraham Hamadeh for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. Hamadeh won the seat in 2024 by 13 percentage points. Her account became public this week when she shared it with the Phoenix New Times, the city’s alternative newspaper, and described details of the alleged attack in a televised interview with ABC 15 Arizona.

In the interview, Greene-Placentia said she typically repairs campaign signs in the middle of the night because it is cooler, and is usually accompanied by her husband or a campaign staffer. She told ABC 15 she left home alone around 12:15 a.m. local time on Aug. 14. “We’re not paying for people to do things that I can do myself, and that includes pounding rebar and fixing signs,” she said.

She said she was struck in the head from behind with an object by someone she did not see, lost consciousness, and her first memory of the incident was feeling physical pain and opening her eyes to see “a guy climbing off me.” She recalled the attacker saying, “Not worth it,” when she tried to move. “I don’t remember hearing them leave. I don’t know how long it was that I laid there before I rolled over, and I looked up and my car was like right there,” she said. She said she was attacked by two men.

Greene-Placentia said she was left with multiple bruises and a lump on the back of her head. She did not seek medical attention or contact law enforcement immediately, she said, citing embarrassment. Her landlord’s security camera showed her returning home around 1:40 a.m. “looking not well.”

A long-haul truck driver for 27 years, Greene-Placentia has adopted the campaign slogan “Trucker Tough.”

The investigation remains active. The sheriff’s office has declined to release additional comment pending the probe.