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PD: Surprise man sets fires outside own home to get closer to girlfriend

Posted at 3:42 PM, Aug 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-30 21:16:45-04

A Surprise man is accused of posing as an arson victim to get closer to his girlfriend.

Court records show that a man set a couple of fires outside his Surprise home to show his girlfriend that he is being harassed by the same people that are harassing her. It turns out, he was the harasser in both situations.

Surprise police report that there were two fires outside a home near Reems and Bell roads earlier this year. When they investigated, one of the residents, 19-year-old Dakota Jay Diaz, told police that he was being harassed by someone who is known by the KIK messaging name, "ANGEL IN THE STREETS."

Diaz reportedly told police that he would receive harassing messages right before the fires would occur.

Police were able to trace the origins of "ANGEL IN THE STREETS" and discovered that it was created through an account attached to Diaz's phone. Diaz would also use this account to harass his girlfriend by sending her threatening messages.

Diaz later allegedly told police that he created the account to show his girlfriend that he was also being harassed by "ANGEL IN THE STREETS" and they would draw closer together. 

Diaz was arrested on August 24 and charged with arson, aggravated harassment and criminal damage.