Instagram Video of Dormitory Toilet Fire Leads to UA Student’s Felony Arson Arrest

A University of Alabama student has been charged with first-degree arson after a video of him fueling a fire in a dormitory toilet was posted to social media last weekend.

According to a deposition filed Friday, firefighters and police were called to Paty Hall, a UA dormitory on McCorvey Drive, this Sunday evening on reports of a fire in a bathroom on the second floor.

The blaze was contained and only damaged a toilet and the ceiling of the bathroom.

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Investigators did not have to spend long wondering who was responsible -- police say a video of the incident was uploaded to Instagram that showed a 19-year-old student spraying rubbing alcohol on a fire that was burning in and around a toilet in the dorm.

Police say the student in the video is 19-year-old Tyler Gordon Southworth, and they are taking what may have started as a "prank" seriously -- in their charging documents, they noted that Paty is home to more than 400 University students and also contains a restaurant on the first floor that serves non-residents.

For fueling a fire inside a heavily occupied building with an accelerant, Southworth was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree arson, a Class A felony that mean could serious prison time on conviction.

His bond was set at $10,000, and he was not listed as an inmate at the Tuscaloosa County Jail Friday, which may indicate he has been released on bond.