TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video aired on Jan. 24, 2024.
Documents allege a man charged with arson stripped down to his underwear and started a fire in one of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce building bathrooms earlier this week.
David Alan Stickle, 45, of Tyler, was booked into the Smith County Jail Thursday on the arson charge in connection with the fire found in the first-floor men's bathroom of the chamber building, located at 315 N. Broadway Ave. Wednesday afternoon. He remains jailed on a $150,000 bond.
According to an arrest affidavit, the Tyler Fire Marshal's Office found investigation found paper towels inside a dispenser were set on fire, and the flames spread to a trashcan below the dispenser before firefighters could begin to extinguish the flames.
Officials also determined the paper towels within a lockable dispenser were the first thing ignited near the bottom of the folded paper towel stack. The affidavit states investigators couldn't find anything that would've started the fire near where the blaze started.
In an interview, Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce President Henry Bell said a man, who was identified as Stickle, entered the building and walked past Bell's office to an unoccupied office. When Stickle told Bell that he was looking for work, Bell told him to go down to the first floor. Stickle also asked Bell about resources, the affidavit said.
Moments after this exchange, employees alerted Bell that a naked man was inside the first-floor men's restroom. Bell said he found Stickle in his underwear inside the bathroom, and Bell noticed the paper towel dispenser was behind Stickle, the affidavit detailed.
Bell told Stickle to put his clothes back on and leave the building. Soon after, he noticed smoke coming from the same bathroom and flames from the dispenser and trash can, the document read.
Surveillance video showed Stickle leaving moments before the fire was noticed by those inside the building, according to the affidavit.