A late-night fire at a downtown San Antonio nightclub has now been linked to someone who once worked there after investigators say surveillance video, fingerprints, and stolen liquor bottles all point to the same man.

Douglas Cavender, 34, was arrested Sunday by the San Antonio Police Department, court records show. He has been charged with arson in connection with an October fire at the downtown nightclub, records show. 

Cavender was booked into the Bexar County jail with a bond set at $30,000. 

The incident happened around 8 p.m. Oct. 27, 2025, at a nightclub at 212 College St., according to an affidavit written by a San Antonio Fire Department arson investigator. 

Fire crews responded to a fire alarm at the four-story building, and when they arrived, they noticed water spilling out of the building. Crews then traced the flow of water to light smoke inside a fourth-floor room containing a “smoldering fire on a counter top.”

The fire investigator stated the fire involved combustible material, such as a sleeping bag, comforter on top of two cans of Sterno — a portable fire fuel used for heating food — plus a butane-style torch and a bottle. All the items were placed on top of a wooden countertop. 

The building’s sprinkler system put out the majority of the flames before crews finished extinguishing them. Fire officials determined there were no natural or accidental sources of ignition and concluded the fire was intentionally set.

During the investigation, latent fingerprints were recovered from glass doors at the scene and later matched to Cavender, according to the investigator.

Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators showed Cavender, identified by the business owner as a former employee who had been fired months earlier, going up and down a stairwell leading to the nightclub multiple times between about 7:34 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. on the night of the fire.

The affidavit states Cavender was seen entering empty-handed and later carrying several bottles of liquor from the business. Three of those bottles were later recovered near the same doors where his fingerprints were found.

Investigators noted Cavender was the only person captured on video accessing the stairwell before first responders arrived. The fire alarm was triggered shortly after his movements were recorded.

The fire investigators say Cavender intentionally ignited the fire with the intent to damage or destroy the business.Â