SAN ANTONIO — A man is accused of setting a fire at a local construction site after surveillance video allegedly showed him vandalizing the property, starting a fire inside a metal container and moving it against the building as flames grew.
According to a Bexar County arrest warrant affidavit, San Antonio firefighters and arson investigators responded Monday to a fire at a Mission Funeral structure that was under construction. Investigators determined the blaze was intentionally ignited in an area where one should not have occurred.
Security footage was later reviewed and allegedly showed a man entering the fenced property around 8 p.m. last Sunday and remaining there for several hours. The suspect, Cody Engel, was seen walking around the site, attempting to enter the structure and construction equipment, spraying paint on the building, opening water mains and damaging security and electrical equipment.
Engel then apparently used a metal cylindrical container to start a fire away from the building before moving the burning container next to rear glass doors beneath a decorative carport. The video apparently showed him adding material to the fire and encouraging it to grow as flames came into contact with the structure. He allegedly pushed the fire closer to the building, causing it to flare up, before running from the scene.
Employees later reported repeatedly seeing Engel around the construction site. On Saturday, a security camera company employee spotted him again and called 911. SAPD officers detained Engel, and investigators said his clothing, tattoos, and body type matched the person captured on surveillance video.
During questioning, Engel allegedly told investigators that the person recorded on camera looked like him, but he said he could not remember the incident or what happened.
Cody Engel is charged with arson of a habitation/place of assembly, with the arrest warrant identifying the offense as a first-degree felony.