A McAllen man accused of setting fire to a man’s residence and vehicle on separate occasions pleaded not guilty to federal charges of arson and possession of an unregistered firearm/destructive device, court records show.

Daniel Eduardo Rivera, 36, was arrested on Tuesday on those charges.

Federal court records indicate that Rivera pleaded not guilty on Thursday, and filed to not be arraigned.

According to the criminal complaint, the residence Rivera is accused of setting on fire was being rented, meaning the arson incident affected interstate commerce.

The unregistered device Rivera was accused of possessing is a Molotov cocktail he allegedly used in two different fires.

According to the criminal complaint, firefighters responded to the victim’s home twice on Nov. 2, 2022 after Rivera allegedly set fire to a shed near the home, and then later the front porch of the residence.

The shed fire was classified as “incendiary in nature,” and a Molotov cocktail was found at the scene of the second fire, the complaint added.

A neighbor said she saw Rivera in the area around the same time as the second fire, and surveillance cameras also showed the suspect in the area, according to the complaint. 

Rivera was taken into custody later that day and found with several lighters and a bottle of "polish removal." According to the complaint, Rivera admitted to being in the area during the fire, the complaint stated.

According to the complaint, the victim said Rivera had gone to his place of work the week before the fires and told the victim he was going to “kill me at night and burn my house down.”

On May 10, 2024, the McAllen Fire Department was dispatched to a vehicle fire that an investigation revealed had been set off by a Molotov cocktail. The victim was the same residence owner of the Nov. 2022 fire, and accused Rivera of setting the vehicle on fire.

Surveillance footage of the incident showed Rivera approaching the vehicle and lighting something on fire and walking away after placing it on the vehicle, the complaint stated.

If convicted, Rivera faces up to 20 years in federal prison. A new court hearing for Rivera was not set as of Thursday evening.