# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DeDP3MMD1F0
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71151455-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/fa8bb32153.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-10-03T23:32:51.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

Matthew Ammel, the 39-year-old former member of former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s security detail, is back in jail after court records allege he violated his release conditions less than two weeks after he was released.

Ammel was arrested Tuesday near a hotel at 24th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix. Investigators say that after his Sept. 17 release, he asked a mutual acquaintance to contact Sinema on his behalf, which they say broke the court’s orders. Court documents also say his GPS tracker placed him at a firearm retailer in north Phoenix, where he left a large hunting-style knife to be engraved. His release conditions did not allow him to have the knife.

Prosecutors say a North Carolina sheriff’s lieutenant warned that Ammel was trying to acquire a gun and tactical equipment and had made threats toward a judge. He is also accused of saying he would “take down” Sinema. In a filing, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office called him a “highly trained” Army veteran and asked a judge to raise his bond from $25,000 to $100,000 cash-only. We have not seen a ruling on that request.

Ammel was due to be arraigned Thursday but refused to be taken to court from jail. A judge ordered that he be brought by any means necessary, including force, over his attorney’s objections. The arraignment is now set for Oct. 15.

The case began Aug. 30, when Sinema called police after Ammel allegedly demanded she post a video to her X account and threatened to damage her Cave Creek home if she did not. Investigators say he threw 22 pieces of artwork into her pool and smashed liquor bottles and a mirror, causing nearly $200,000 in damage. He was charged with one count of criminal damage, a class 4 felony.

Ammel told Arizona’s Family the videos he wanted her to post were from his 2007 military deployment, and that stress led to the damage. These are allegations, and he has not been convicted. We have not seen a statement from Sinema.

#Arizona #KyrstenSinema #Phoenix #CaveCreek #AZNews

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## Tags

aznews, kyrstensinema, cavecreek, arizona, phoenix

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