The man accused of stealing from the Maricopa County Elections Department now faces charges in a theft of vintage jewelry from the Phoenix Art Museum.
With the latest charges filed Monday, 27-year-old Walter Ringfield Jr. has now been accused of theft or burglary on four separate occasions over the past two years.
Ringfield already faced charges that he stole keys to voting equipment from Maricopa County elections headquarters on June 20 while serving as a temporary election worker.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office filed two new cases on Monday against Ringfield, one related to a previously reported incident at the Arizona Senate. According to court records, Ringfield has been charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor trespassing after officials say he swiped challenge coins and other “desk accessories” from the desk of a Senate security staffer.
In the second new case, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says Ringfield committed felony theft, alleging that he stole $9,500 worth of vintage jewelry at the Phoenix Art Museum on May 20. According to court documents, Ringfield entered the museum during a private event and removed jewelry that had been placed on several mannequins in an exhibit in the Orme Lewis Gallery.
The theft was caught on the museum’s security cameras, but Phoenix police did not connect Ringfield to the incident until June 27, when Fox News ran a story about the theft at the Maricopa County Elections Department that included images of Ringfield.
“A Phoenix police research analyst recognized the subject as the same person from the bulletin that was distributed related to this investigation,” according to the police report.
According to Phoenix police, the suspect was seen leaving the museum in a gray sedan that matches the description of a vehicle registered in Ringfield’s name. The suspect was also seen wearing what appears to be “the Elgin American working pocket watch that was stolen from the Phoenix Art Museum” in footage provided to Phoenix police by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Museum spokesperson Samantha Andreacchi said that all five of the stolen objects were recovered in good condition on Tuesday.
The fourth case dates back to 2023, when authorities say Ringfield stole more than $1,000 from a Fry’s grocery store. Ringfield was arrested in that case but entered a diversion program, which is why the theft was not flagged in a background check conducted before he was hired as a temporary election worker, Maricopa County election officials said.
The prosecution in that case was suspended, but that diversion agreement is now “null and void,” according to Jeanine L'Ecuyer, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. County attorneys have filed a motion to have prosecution in the 2023 case reinstated, she added.
“When somebody fails diversion, we basically say, ‘OK, that’s enough of that we’re going to prosecute you now.’ ... He clearly likes to steal things, or attempt to,” L'Ecuyer said.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the Orme Lewis Gallery.
