SAN ANTONIO – Alejandro Gallardo Castro, 49, a north Bexar County resident, is charged with arson in a connection with a vehicle fire that caused at least $100,000 in damages.
Castro was arrested Wednesday on several charges, including the arson charge.
An arrest warrant affidavit stated that Bexar County arson investigators were called to the scene of the fire on Nov. 16 at the Mansion at Canyon Springs apartments in the 24300 block of Wilderness Oak.
Investigators said they determined someone had started the fire in the bed of a Ford pickup.
The fire then spread to two other cars parked beneath the same car port, investigators said.
At the scene of the fire, arson investigators said they noticed a man, later identified as Castro, sitting in his vehicle watching the incident unfold.
Investigators said they also caught him eavesdropping several times as they spoke with the victims, the affidavit stated.
They said when questioned by investigators, Castro, who was dressed in a McDonald's uniform shirt, shorts and flip flops, told them he was on his way to work.
The affidavit stated that an off-duty San Antonio police officer who lives at the complex later reported that he was on his balcony when the fire broke out and heard someone wearing flip flops walking around in the area moments before it started.
Two days after the fire, the owner of the pickup reported seeing a man matching Castro's description stealing a camping stove from the burned truck, the affidavit stated.
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