An Ahwatukee woman spotted a man peeping on her neighbor, so she took action, chased him down and called 911.
She says it’s the same man she suspects spied on her about a year ago in the apartment complex, and she wasn’t about to let him go.
Police arrested 27-year-old Matthew Kirk on Tuesday, February 9. They say he left his 1-year-old baby girl home, to spy on a woman who was undressing in another apartment.
Ashley Diaz was coming home from work, and saw Kirk peering through the window.
“I just instantly knew something was wrong,” she said.
So she asked him, “What do you think you're doing?”
Diaz said the suspect took off running and she ran right after him. She chased him through the complex.
“He slips, and I told him to get up,” she said. “It gave me a chance to catch up with him.”
Diaz said she called 911, and told him to sit still until he arrived.
Police said Kirk was intoxicated when he was arrested. Diaz said he was yelling and belligerent.
“I demanded that he just stay,” she said.
Diaz said the man is no stranger. She said he is the exact man who peeped on her last year.
“Being a victim myself, I knew I could not let this man out of my sight,” she said. “I knew I wanted justice.”
ABC15 knocked on the door of the suspect’s apartment, but no one answered. Neighbors in the area said Kirk, his girlfriend, and their baby were evicted.
Kirk was released from jail with an ankle monitor. His next court date is in a few weeks.
As for Diaz, she said she has a new mindset.
“I feel like I've got my power back,” she said. “I feel like I am no longer a victim, and I choose not to be a victim.”
Diaz finally filed a police report about Kirk who she says was spying on her last year. She said she should have done it in the first place when it happened, but she encourages anyone in a similar situation to stand up and take action.
