DENVER — Bond has been set for the 38-year-old Aurora man arrested Tuesday in connection with the massive fire that tore through an apartment construction site on Leetsdale Drive earlier this month.
The suspect, Tony Becerra, is being held at Denver's Downtown Detention Center on $50,000 cash personal recognizance bond or $5,000 cash, with the magistrate judge noting at his Thursday afternoon court appearance that although the damage was significant, the structure was unoccupied and no one was hurt.
Becerra faces multiple felony arson charges, including first-degree arson. He had been living in a sober living facility at the time of the fire, the judge said Thursday.
Becerra has a lengthy criminal record spanning more than two decades, including multiple felony assault convictions and a felony trespassing conviction, Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show. He also has an active warrant from June 2025 for failure to appear on a trespassing charge, according to the arrest affidavit.
Investigators used surveillance footage and law enforcement facial recognition programs to connect Becerra to the blaze, according to the arrest affidavit filed by a federal investigator.
The five-alarm fire, which stretched an entire city block, began the evening of Jan. 2 at the unfinished Harker Heights apartment complex and burned for several days, prompting road closures and evacuations.
Crime
Arrest made in massive apartment construction site fire on Leetsdale in Denver
More than 150 firefighters worked to fight the fire, using more than 18 million gallons of water. One firefighter dislocated a shoulder in the process and was later released from the hospital in good condition, officials said.
The building did not have any drywall to slow the fire's progress, and did not yet have a sprinkler system, officials said. Fire officials said nearby homes and businesses may have sustained damage from the heat and smoke.
Surveillance footage shows Becerra entering and leaving the building shortly before the structure caught fire, according to the affidavit. He was “the last (and only) unidentified person observed leaving 5377 Leetsdale Dr. at approximately 6:34pm, approximately three minutes before smoke from the fire, and then fire, was observed at the construction site,” the document states.
WATCH: What led up to arson suspect arrest in massive fire at apt. construction site
Denver Fire Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigators tracked the suspect’s movement for about two hours after leaving the site using footage from Denver Police Department cameras as well as footage obtained from neighborhood canvassing, according to the affidavit.
DFD and ATF’s National Response Team are still investigating how and where the fire started, according to the document.
Denver