The Gilbert Police Department released a report late Thursday that finds probable cause that Council Member Scott September tampered with political signs outside a voting center in an election day incident.
However, the report specifically notes that the signs were not stolen, as the complainant alleged September attempted to do at a Gilbert Town Council meeting Aug. 9.
No charges have been filed yet against September. The case has been referred to prosecutors for review. The council member lost his election bid, finishing seventh in a nine-person field with four open seats.
At the Aug. 9 council meeting, Andrew Adams, who is the Arizona Legislative District 14 Republican Party chairman, accused September during the public comment period of attempting to steal signs and asked for his immediate resignation.
“The electioneers and I stopped him and made him put the signs back,” Adams said at the meeting. “Mr. September then left the scene before police arrived. A police report has been made, and multiple witnesses … can corroborate the story.”
September declined comment when reached by phone Sunday. His attorney, Kory Langhofer, said he was not authorized to speak to the media on the matter and declined comment.
According to the report, Adams told police he put up the three signs — two opposing candidate Bill Spence and one indicating that September and Council Member Yung Koprowski were puppets of developers — outside the Southeast Valley Regional Library voting center at about 6:30 a.m. Police were called about September trying to remove signs at approximately 6:59 a.m.
Witness Paul Hinkle told police he grabbed the signs back from September without resistance, according to the report prepared by Officer Joseph Jordan.
Adams told police when he confronted September about removing the signs, September told him, “You can’t put these up, they’re lies,” according to the report.
In Officer Paul Alaniz’s statement included in the report, he wrote that September “willingly returned the signs.”
According to the report, probable cause was found on a violation of Arizona Revised Statute 16-1019A, a Class 2 misdemeanor. That section states it is a violation for anyone “to knowingly remove, alter, deface or cover any political sign of any candidate for public office or in support of or opposition to any ballot measure.”
The three signs all included language that they were paid for by Phillip Andrews and listed contact information as required by state law. In the report’s narrative, Jordan wrote, “Andrew (Adams) mentioned the signs needed to be paid for by someone to be legal, and Phillip Andrews was an alias. Andrew could not tell me who exactly owned the signs.”
A search of public records does not turn up a Phillip Andrews living in Gilbert, though the person paying for the signs would not have to do so. The email address given as contact information is non-working.
September, a former member of the Gilbert Planning Commission, was appointed to Town Council in April 2020 to fill the term of Brigette Peterson, who had resigned to run for mayor. Peterson was then elected. September was seeking a full term in this election.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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