Matthew Ammel, the former bodyguard turned lover of ex-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, has asked her to pay his jail bond — a month after he allegedly caused more than $200,000 in damage to her Phoenix-area home and amid allegations he threatened to “take down” the former Arizona lawmaker.
The request surfaced in court documents filed Monday, a week after Ammel’s arrest in Phoenix, where investigators say he violated an active no-contact order protecting Sinema, according to the Arizona Republic.
Ammel, 39, a US Army veteran, is being held in a Buckeye jail on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 15 on charges stemming from the late-August destruction of Sinema’s home. He has said his rage that night stemmed from being “p—d” at the US political system.
According to Sinema’s attorney, Colleen Clase, Ammel allegedly violated the no-contact order again by having a “bail bondsman call [Sinema] and ask that she post his bond.” It is unclear when the call was placed.
“This is a form of indirect contact, constitutes witness harassment and intimidation, and causes substantial concern given the recent history of threats made against her life,” Clase wrote in the court filing.
Prosecutors are now pushing a judge to raise Ammel’s bond to a cash-only $100,000, citing the threats. Clase has asked that the case be made non-bondable entirely, or that the bond be set “much larger” than $25,000, pointing to Ammel’s background.
“The nature and seriousness of the threats, [Ammel’s] criminal history, past evidence for [Sinema’s] conduct, and the need for appropriate conditions of release if he is not deemed non-bondable need to be sufficient to protect [Sinema] and the community,” Clase said.
Ammel was arrested Sept. 29 in a Cheesecake Factory parking lot in Phoenix after his GPS ankle monitor tipped off police. He had just dropped a knife off at a nearby gun store to have it engraved as a gift for his nephew’s Marine Corps graduation — but his release conditions barred him from possessing a blade at all.
Investigators say they then learned Ammel had allegedly tried to buy a gun, threatened to
