Man sets fire to homeless camp, threatens College Hunks employee with flare gun

AUSTIN, Texas - A man was arrested for allegedly setting fire to a homeless camp and threatening a College Hunks Moving employee with a flare gun.

37-year-old Julian Lawrence Navarro is now facing four charges: second-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and second-degree felony arson, as well as two Class A misdemeanors for criminal mischief and deadly conduct.

According to court paperwork, just before 4 p.m. On Feb. 1, the Austin Fire Department responded to a fire in the 900 block of Old Bastrop Hwy and found a 20-foot by 20-foot fire in a heavily wooded area.

The fire was quickly extinguished and fire investigators were called to the scene because a suspect had been seen leaving the area at the time of the fire. Investigators determined the fire had been intentionally set.

Around the same time, two APD officers reported seeing a cloud of black smoke coming from the same wooded area and went to see if anyone needed help. One officer was approached by a person who told him that a man wearing all black carrying bags and a flare gun was near Southside Wrecker in the 1100 block, says court paperwork.

A 911 caller also advised that a man with a flare gun in his pocket and syringes behind his ears had run out of the camp, and was seen taking flares out of the gun and walking on Old Bastrop Hwy towards Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

AFD also specifically advised police: "If person with flare gun is found please detain him for AFD Arson Investigators," court paperwork says.

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Officers went to find and detain the man, who was later identified as Navarro. Court paperwork says he was wearing a black shirt and black pants, was alone and had multiple black bags near him. A bright orange flare gun was also found near him and the bags.

Officers also frisked Navarro and found two lighters in his pocket. AFD then told the officers that Navarro was suspected of starting a fire nearby and that he had allegedly pointed a flare gun at someone.

Officers called the victim, who told them he was working at College Hunks Moving and that someone had come from underneath a nearby bridge and began walking through the parking lot. He walked towards the dumpsters around the corner of the building and began to pour what the victim thought was some kind of fuel into a dumpster.

The victim also said he believed the man may have lit a newspaper to start the dumpster fire. After the fire started, the victim confronted the man, who asked him "where's Douglas?" while pointing a flare gun at him. 

The victim spoke with AFD arson investigators as well, and based on his description of the man and the flare gun, AFD and APD investigators determined the suspect in both incidents was the same person.