This story has been updated from the original online version.
ALPINE — A disturbing story has emerged from the case of a local volunteer firefighter accused of committing arson. Per a probable cause affidavit for an arrest warrant from Brewster County Sheriff’s Deputy Hector Holguin, David Matthew Neet, 44, of Alpine allegedly lit several brushfires then rushed to the fire station to grab his gear and join crews to fight them. The deputy’s detailed detective work led to Neet’s arrest on July 5 on 20 counts of second-degree felony arson. As of Wednesday morning, Neet was in the Brewster County Jail on a $300,000 bond.
“Firefighter arson,” as it’s called, is a well-known phenomenon, but there is no national database to track how many firefighters are convicted of the crime. An old 2011 report from the National Volunteer Fire Council said about 100 firefighters are convicted each year in the United States.
The investigation into several suspicious Alpine-area wildfires accelerated after Holguin got a tip about a white Dodge Ram pickup spotted near a grass fire that broke out in the Sunny Glen Estates subdivision in Alpine on June 17. “The fire was suspicious in nature, as the cause might have been a deliberate intent, as there were no storms and the weather was a clear sunny day,” Holguin later wrote in his affidavit.
Holguin started by reviewing security camera footage captured from county buildings. He spotted the pickup and was able to get a license number and verify that the driver was Neet, according to the affidavit. By reviewing security tapes, the deputy pieced together when and where the truck was traveling when several fires broke out. The footage showed Neet’s pickup heading out of town, only to return just as fires were being reported on several occasions. Additionally, Alpine Fire Department security footage showed Neet arriving at the fire station just after the fires were called in and waiting on other firefighters to show up to head out and battle blazes.
Holguin found this same pattern for an April 1 fire on West Highway 90 and another April 27 fire on the same stretch of highway near the roadside park east of Alpine. An “incendiary device” that caused delayed fire starts was found at that scene. With that evidence, Holguin got a warrant to put a tracking device on Neet’s pickup.
The tracking device yielded yet another connection between the suspect and a fire on July 2, when Neet’s truck made the journey from Alpine to his job in Odessa. Shortly after taking off, Sheriff Dodson and Texas A&M Forest Service investigators spotted people extinguishing a small fire along Neet’s path on Highway 67. A small firework –– a “Ground Bloom Flower,” per the packaging –– was found on the scene and determined to be the cause of the fire.
The next day, Forest Service investigators obtained records from a fireworks stand just east of town that revealed a credit card purchase by Neet on June 29 for a “Ground Bloom Flower.” Holguin then went to Big Bend Mini Storage next to the stand and reviewed the facility’s security footage. “I observed on the surveillance footage David Neet and his truck located at the firework stand just East of the Big Bend Mini Storage units,” Holguin states. “I was able to confirm that the male subject is in fact David Neet. I observed David with a big paper bag in his left hand and go to the back passenger side and place the bag in the back seat.”
Deputies also obtained search warrants for Neet’s car and apartment. A court record showing items from his car included fireworks, matches, a GoPro camera, “firestarters,” tape and a “backpack with electronics.”
Holguin stated that he interviewed former Fire Chief Andrew Pierce who said that Neet called him to report another fire on June 17 after the Sunny Glen Estates fire. Neet was traveling north on Highway 67 towards Fort Stockton when he said he saw the fire and called the chief. Neet also told Pierce that he saw a vehicle leaving the scene.
Affidavits establish probable cause for a search warrant and/or arrest warrant in a case that must be approved by a judge. Under Texas law, they are almost always public record immediately after the judge signs off on the warrants. Initially, County Judge Greg Henington, who signed the arrest warrant, and Dodson agreed to release the documents as required by law.
However, Henington and Dodson stopped returning calls. Chief Deputy Ryan Skelton emailed The Big Bend Sentinel to say that the sheriff’s office would not be releasing the affidavit, nor would it provide any more information beyond what the department had posted on Facebook. Skelton said the affidavits include too much detail that could “possibly corrupt and taint the case’s prosecution.”
The Sentinel also requested the documents from 83rd District Attorney Ori White. White’s office emailed on Thursday that it did not yet have the documents. However, they were sent to The Sentinel by White’s office on Friday morning.
It’s still uncertain how many fires authorities are trying to connect to Neet. Dodson said the suspicious fires covered a span of up to two years. Neet faces a possible grand jury indictment, at which point the case would move forward in the 394th District Court. If convicted of second-degree felony arson, Neet would face a $10,000 fine and up to 20 years in jail for each count. He is being represented by Far West Texas Regional Public Defenders in Alpine.