Arizona congressional candidate says she was raped while fixing a campaign sign; sheriff investigating

Greene Placentia told deputies she pulled into an empty parking lot near 99th Avenue and Bell Road between 2 and 3 a.m. to fix a damaged sign, a chore she frequently did at night to avoid the desert heat. She says two men hit her in the back of the head and knocked her unconscious. When she woke, she says, one of the men was raping her while the other approached. She kicked at the second man, and the pair left. She says one of the attackers called her a 'Democratic b,' though she is unsure of the exact words.

She told deputies she suffered bruises on her arms from being held down, a large bump on the back of her head, and vaginal bleeding that lasted several days. She did not seek medical care or a sexual assault examination, and she told deputies she had washed her clothes since the incident, leaving investigators without DNA evidence. She could not describe the men's faces, recalling only black boots and small feet, and she could not identify the exact parking lot.

She reported the attack on August 31, two weeks after she says it happened, and went public with the Phoenix New Times on October 7. The Arizona Republic, which obtained the sheriff's incident report, noted that her account could not be independently verified. Both Arizona senators condemned the attack, and her opponent, Rep. Abe Hamadeh, called on authorities to investigate the serious allegations thoroughly, including finding all possible camera footage. The sheriff's office says the investigation is ongoing.