Another arrest made in connection with May 2020 Scottsdale riot, police officials say
Paul Anthony Ruiz ( Photo Courtesy: Scottsdale Police Department)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Almost 10 months after the riot in Downtown Scottsdale, officials with the city's police department say they have made another arrest in connection with the unrest.
According to a statement released by Scottsdale Police officials on March 9, 25-year-old Paul Anthony Ruiz of Phoenix was arrested on March 4.
"Ruiz was identified as a suspect through his attempts to sell items stolen from Tiffany and Company and Montblanc during the May riots," read a portion of the statement. "Additionally, he was captured on store surveillance video during the riots removing merchandise from the stores and was in possession of merchandise from the same stores at the time of his arrest."
(Courtesy: Scottsdale Police Department)
Ruiz, according to officials, is accused of burglary and trafficking stolen property.
Investigators say Ruiz is the 55th person arrested in connection with the riot, which happened late night on May 30 and continued overnight into May 31.
Officials say hundreds came to the mall on May 30 under "the guise of protesting police violence." At the time, there were protests across the country and in Phoenix amid growing controversy over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis.
On the night before the riot on Scottsdale, unrest in Phoenix, sparked by the death of Floyd as well as a man who was shot and killed by a DPS trooper on May 25, result in damages to various Downtown Phoenix buildings.
"While some may have indeed come to join what they believed would be a peaceful protest, what occurred was neither peaceful, nor a protest," wrote Scottsdale Police in May 2020. "It was a riot that saw several dozens of individuals collectively damaging property at and near the mall, breaking into businesses and looting the interiors."
Related: Scottsdale Fashion Square closed after night of looting, unrest; 12 people arrested
Video taken by SkyFOX during the riot show people targeting the Apple Store at Scottsdale Fashion Square, managing to break in. Some of the people who broke into the store were seen throwing out what appears to be merchandise from inside the store.
After the riot in Scottsdale, Gov. Doug Ducey issued a limited statewide curfew on May 31. The curfew, which was not enforced in parts of the state for various reasons, ended on June 8.
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