After a nearly two-week investigation, a man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Friday, Jan. 2, five-alarm fire at the Harker Heights apartment development on Leetsdale Drive and South Forest Street in Denver.
Authorities say Tony Becerra, a 38-year-old, was captured on surveillance footage allegedly entering and exiting the apartment building that was under construction just before it went up in flames.
Firefighters took days to battle the flames and required the use of an excavator to extinguish smoldering debris.
Becerra was initially identified in a 911 call and inaccurately described as “homeless,” the fire department wrote in a statement.
He is being held in jail in his hometown of Aurora, as the arson investigation continues.
The investigation is being conducted by the Denver Fire Department Fire Investigations Unit, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team.
The arrest was made with help from the Aurora Police Department and the Regional Anti-Violence Enforcement Network RAVEN Team.
Formal charges have not yet been filed, and the investigation is ongoing, officials say.
