Surveillance footage allegedly corroborates victim's account

By Kate Northrop

PHOENIX, Ariz. — An Arizona Lottery employee was arrested for allegedly groping a gas station clerk while he was on site servicing the retailer's vending machine.

Police arrested an Arizona Lottery employee after he was accused of making inappropriate physical advances on a gas station worker while on the job.

David William Reeves, 52, was taken into custody at his home in Peoria on Thursday after authorities reviewed surveillance footage that they said showed him sexually assaulting an employee at a gas station.

Court records say Reeves has worked as a territory manager for the Arizona Lottery since 2019 and has been servicing the vending machine at the Arco gas station convenience store on the corner of North 43rd Avenue and West Northern Avenue for several years, visiting the location about once a month.

On July 29, the victim was working at the gas station alone. While she was looking at her phone to take photographs of the damaged lottery machine to send to her manager, Reeves allegedly walked by her and touched her breast. She couldn't tell whether the contact was accidental or intentional, documents say.

Reeves reportedly approached again a few minutes later and grabbed her left breast.

She yelled at Reeves to stop and backed away, authorities said, but Reeves allegedly pursued to try to grab her chest a third time before she blocked him.

"You didn't have a problem with it the first time," Reeves said, according to police records. He then left the store.

Investigators say they reviewed surveillance footage and found that the scene matched the victim's description of what had happened.

Phoenix police arrested Reeves at his home on Aug. 6 after confronting him with photo stills from the recording, specifically of him touching the retailer employee. He confirmed he worked for the Arizona Lottery and requested an attorney.

At a hearing on Friday, Reeves' lawyer, David Campbell, proposed that any physical touch was unintentional.

"Based on Mr. Reeves recollection, he is adamantly denying any of the alleged conduct happening in this case being intentional or knowingly," Campbell said to the judge. "If there was any contact, which he does not recall specifically, it would have been accidental."

However, Prosecutor Brooke Gaunt argued that the alleged comment he made to the clerk makes the intention very clear.

"I certainly think that that statement gives the inference that it was done intentionally or knowingly rather than by an accident that Mr. Reeves is claiming... We are concerned that Mr. Reeves is a danger," Gaunt reasoned.

Reeves was held on bond at $25,000 at Maricopa County jail, with court-ordered electronic monitoring and curfew restrictions if released on bail. He was charged with three counts of sexual abuse and has no prior criminal record. He has a court appearance scheduled for Aug. 12.

"The Arizona Lottery has been made aware of a criminal incident involving a contract employee," a Lottery spokesperson told FOX 10. "The safety and integrity of our operations remain our highest priorities. This is an active investigation and the Arizona Lottery is unable to provide further comment at this time."

(Click to display full-size in gallery)David William Reeves, 52, was taken into custody at his home in Peoria on Thursday after authorities reviewed surveillance footage that they said showed him sexually assaulting an employee at a gas station.