SAN ANTONIO – It took nearly a month, but criminal charges have now been filed against a man in connection with a destructive fire at a Northeast Side apartment complex.
Julio Pineda, 33, was booked into the Bexar County jail Monday on charges of arson and illegal entry from a foreign nation.
Pineda is accused of using gasoline to start a fire in one unit at the apartment complex on Eisenhauer Road, not far from Austin Highway, on the night of March 24.
The fire then spread, causing damage to several other apartments. An arrest affidavit shows Pineda was involved in a domestic dispute when he poured gasoline under a bedroom door and set fire to it.
The affidavit said a woman told police she had locked herself in that bedroom after Pineda threatened her with a knife.
Five people suffered injuries, including a San Antonio firefighter and Pineda himself.
Other residents, such as Ceanna Hofland, ran from their homes to escape the flames.
“We just heard screaming and then I came outside, and my apartment was filled with smoke,” she said, reflecting on the terror she felt that night. “He seriously endangered other people. If I wouldn’t have been awake, what would have happened to my children?”
Hofland spoke to KSAT 12 on Tuesday morning as she left the apartment where she has been staying since the fire.
She and her neighbors have not been able to return to their original homes. Their section of the building still has boards covering windows and walkways.
“Everything that is fabric is all smoke damaged,” Hofland said. “All of our stuff is still up in that apartment because we can’t get it.”
She said she was surprised to learn that charges had just been filed against Pineda. She believed he had been in jail the whole time.
Pineda had been in a hospital since the night of the fire, healing from the injuries he suffered, according to Joseph Arrington, a public information officer for the San Antonio Fire Department.
Arrington said investigators had to delay filing charges against Pineda until he was released.
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