A 41-year-old San Antonio man is facing a first-degree felony arson charge after investigators say surveillance footage caught him wandering a fenced Mission Park Funeral Home construction site for hours before flames damaged the building. Cody Engel was detained by San Antonio police officers last Saturday and later booked after investigators say his clothing, tattoos and body type matched a man recorded lingering at the property for roughly eight hours overnight before the fire broke out.
According to an arrest affidavit, surveillance footage shows a man entering the fenced construction property around 8 p.m. last Sunday, August 16, and remaining on site until about 4 a.m. the next morning, as reported by WOAI. During that window, the footage allegedly shows the suspect damaging security and electrical equipment, spraying paint on the building, and opening water mains at the site. San Antonio firefighters and arson investigators responded to a fire at the Mission Park structure under construction that Monday, August 17.
Investigators determined the blaze was intentionally ignited in an area where a fire should not have occurred, per the arrest affidavit. The footage allegedly shows the suspect using a metal cylindrical container to start a fire away from the building, then pushing it closer, causing the flames to flare up. He is accused of adding material to the fire as it came into contact with the structure and eventually moving the burning container next to rear glass doors beneath a decorative carport before running from the scene.
Employees Spotted Him Again, Then Called 911
Employees reported seeing Engel repeatedly around the construction site in the days that followed, according to the affidavit. Last Monday, a security camera company employee spotted him at the property again and called 911, which led to San Antonio police officers detaining him at the scene. He was then transported to the San Antonio Arson Bureau headquarters on the 300 block of South Santa Rosa Street for questioning before being formally booked by the San Antonio Police Department.
Arson Bureau investigators reported that when Engel was brought in, he was wearing the same pants and shoes seen in the surveillance footage, and that tattoos on his right arm matched those visible on the person captured on video. Engel allegedly told investigators the person recorded on camera looked like him, but said he could not remember the incident or what happened. He attempted, according to surveillance footage cited in the affidavit, to enter the structure and construction equipment during his time on the property.
First-Degree Felony Carries Steep Penalties
The arrest warrant identified the offense as arson of a habitation or place of assembly, a first-degree felony under Texas law. Under Texas Penal Code § 28.02, arson is elevated from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony when the damaged property is a habitation, place of worship, or place of assembly, according to Collin County Law. A conviction on that charge carries a statutory penalty of 5 to 99 years or life in prison, along with a fine of up to $10,000, per the Gracia Law Firm.
Bexar County court records show Engel is being held on a $75,000 bond, with pre-trial release conditions barring him from possessing firearms or consuming alcohol. The exact dollar amount of damage to the structure has not been disclosed, and Engel's underlying motive remains unclear.
A Funeral Home Chain's Expanding Footprint
Mission Park Funeral Chapels, Cemeteries & Crematories has operated funeral and mortuary services in San Antonio since 1907 and is currently led by CEO Robert “Dick” Tips and Kristin Tips, according to the company. The business has been actively expanding a network of domed “life center” funeral and event venues across the San Antonio area, with developments off Highway 281, Loop 1604 in Helotes, and near The Dominion, as detailed by MySA. It was not specified which of the company's active buildouts was targeted in this case.
The case adds to a string of recent San Antonio arson arrests where surveillance and forensic evidence played a central role. In March, San Antonio police arrested a former employee after an intentionally set fire at a downtown nightclub, using security camera footage to identify the suspect. And in January, a 34-year-old man was arrested on felony arson charges after allegedly setting fire to a Northwest Side apartment complex with a Molotov cocktail.
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