Authorities say a quick stop at Safeway turned into a full-blown felony for 31-year-old Blake Alexander Hauff, who allegedly slipped into an employee break room on Sunday night, swiped an employee’s car keys from a purse and drove off in a tan Chevrolet Suburban, then returned to Phoenix in the early hours and set the SUV on fire. Investigators say surveillance footage and physical evidence pointed to Hauff, who was taken into custody in Tucson on Wednesday and brought back to Maricopa County to be booked on a felony arson charge, with additional theft counts from Apache Junction police listed as pending.
Detectives say Hauff first walked into the Safeway on Apache Trail in Apache Junction that Sunday evening, bought an item at the register and punched in his own Safeway loyalty phone number, a move police say effectively put his name on the receipt and on store management’s radar when they pulled security video. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, investigators say the footage shows him slipping into an employee break room, removing a set of keys from a purse and then driving the Suburban out of the parking lot.
How investigators say he was traced
According to court filings cited in media coverage, detectives matched the loyalty-number purchase to the corresponding surveillance video, then connected that footage to additional physical evidence that allegedly ties Hauff to both the Safeway theft and the later vehicle fire. Reporters say the sequence of events and the investigative claims are laid out in public records on the criminal docket, per Maricopa County Superior Court records.
Scene and evidence
Officers responding to reports of a vehicle fire near 26th Street and Kelton Lane around 1:30 a.m. Monday found the Suburban fully engulfed and heavily damaged, investigators say. According to police accounts, they discovered a small red gas can in the street and fabric protruding from the SUV’s open fuel-tank compartment, and surveillance footage from a nearby guest house allegedly showed a man walking away from the flames in clothing that matched what he wore in the Safeway video. Those details appear in reporting and court materials cited by FOX 10 Phoenix.
Arrest and charges
Police located Hauff in Tucson on Wednesday and transported him back to Phoenix, where he remains in custody on a felony arson count, according to court records. Reporters reviewing those records say Hauff admitted stealing the Suburban but denied torching it, telling detectives that masked men took the vehicle and later burned it. When investigators confronted him with evidence that the SUV was already on fire as he walked away, he asked for an attorney and ended the interview, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records. Apache Junction police have additional theft charges pending, the filings state.
Legal exposure
Under Arizona law, arson of a structure or property is prosecuted as a felony, with the classification and possible sentence depending on whether anyone was placed at risk and how extensive the damage was. The state’s arson provisions are outlined in Chapter 17 of Title 13 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, which list arson-related offenses and potential penalties under state law (Arizona Revised Statutes).
The investigation is still active and court dates have not yet appeared on the public docket. Law enforcement and prosecutors have not provided additional public comment so far, and for now, filings and the court record remain the main source of new information as the case moves ahead.
