SAN ANTONIO — Police have arrested the man they believe intentionally set fire to an apartment building on Babcock Road back on June 28.
That fire grew to two alarms, destroyed eight units and left a couple of dozen people homeless.
Ryan James Simpson, 35, is facing one arson count and he's also charged with stalking. Arson investigators say Simpson was angry with a man he accused of stealing guns from him.
The affidavit says the stalking victim and the defendant were friends who were involved in an unnamed business transaction involving guns.
When things didn't go as planned, the victim says he got a text message that threatened that Simpson’s property should be returned "before things get real out of hand."
The affidavit continues with the quote from a text message that reads "You have 2 days before law enforcement and ATF get involved and that won't deter me from continuing to destroy everything around me."
The affidavit goes on to detail threats against the victim's children, stating "…would hate for something to happen to them on accident. He has 24 hours."
The affidavit related to the arson charge outlines how three cars burned at The Hollows apartments on Potranco Road on June 22.
The car where the fire started, the affidavit states, belonged to the victim, and the two other cars caught fire when the first vehicle was set ablaze.
Detectives wrote that Simpson’s vehicle was caught on surveillance video coming into the apartment complex at 3:41, leaving at 3:43, and the fire was reported at 3:45.
Days later, the affidavit states, more threatening messages arrived to witnesses, with the defendant allegedly writing that he "would shoot everyone down."
After the cars burned, a witness told police Simpson asked for an apartment number on Babcock where the victim was staying with a friend to escape the threats.
A witness told police after the big fire, another text message arrived from Simpson that read he was glad the victim was not harmed in the fire, stating, “I would be terribly saddened if something happened to him.”
Simpson has bonds totaling $125,000 dollars.
While the investigation continues into the exact cause of all the incidents, detectives said they believe the text threats, witness statements and surveillance video make a strong case pointing to Simpson’s involvement.
The stalking affidavit ends with the summary that “The victim is frightened and believes defendant will continue to carry out on the threats." As of Saturday evening, Simpson was still in jail and had not posted bond.