Communications gathered after the woman came forward helped build a felony case against her former boyfriend nearly three months later, say police.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — A recorded phone call and a series of text messages helped Phoenix police build a case against a 24-year-old man accused of deliberately setting his former girlfriend on fire months before she reported the incident, according to court records described by multiple news organizations.
Angel Anthony Nahle was arrested Aug. 18 at his workplace in Tempe after investigators gathered the woman’s statement, communications she attributed to Nahle and a call she recorded three days before the arrest. Authorities accused him of multiple felonies, with early reports listing allegations that included aggravated assault, stalking, threatening or intimidating and aggravated domestic violence. The evidence described publicly has not been tested before a jury, and the allegations remain unproven. What distinguishes the police account is the evidence investigators say emerged after the alleged May 25 attack rather than only from the scene itself.
Arizona’s Family reported that after contacting police Aug. 4, the woman provided text messages in which Nahle allegedly referred to what happened and to his anger. Investigators said one message suggested that if a similar dispute happened again, he might not be able to stop himself. The reporting does not reproduce a complete message thread, so the context available publicly is limited to the investigators’ description. Even so, police cited the communications as material connecting Nahle to the event the woman had described after waiting more than two months to make a report.
Then came the recorded call. Police say the woman recorded an Aug. 15 conversation in which Nahle discussed the night she was burned. According to court records summarized by local news outlets, investigators said he acknowledged initially considering driving to her apartment and shooting her before deciding instead to obtain gasoline. Reports say he described putting the fuel into a water bottle and using it against her. The full recording was not available in the material reviewed for this article. Those statements are therefore presented as investigators characterized them, not as independently verified quotations or findings of guilt.
The call gave detectives a second type of evidence after the text messages, but both came only after the woman made the August report. For much of the intervening period, investigators say she had not publicly identified Nahle as the person responsible for her injuries. She told police the delay was driven by fear. According to the probable cause account, Nahle had instructed her to tell hospital workers that she had been injured in a vehicle carburetor fire and then remained close to her while she received treatment. She believed he stayed with her to prevent her from telling medical personnel what had actually happened.
Her injuries required significant medical care. Police and local reporting said the woman suffered third-degree burns and underwent multiple surgeries and skin grafts. The available reports do not identify her or give a detailed account of her present condition. She later told investigators that even after leaving the hospital setting, she continued the relationship with Nahle for several weeks because she was afraid for her safety. She also said he had threatened to kill her. Those statements formed part of the evidence considered by police when they sought to establish not only the alleged assault but also stalking and domestic violence-related accusations.
The origin of the case, according to investigators, was the end of the relationship on May 24. Police say Nahle responded by repeatedly calling and texting the woman through the night and grew increasingly angry when she did not answer. At approximately 4 a.m. May 25, she accepted a FaceTime call. Investigators say Nahle accused her of infidelity, threatened to harm her and displayed a water bottle that he said contained gasoline. He allegedly threatened to burn her vehicle. Rather than ending with the phone conversation, police say the episode continued as Nahle traveled to the woman’s apartment while still connected to her by FaceTime.
Investigators said the woman stayed inside her sister’s apartment at first because she feared what would happen if she went outside. She later walked out after seeing Nahle near her vehicle and tried to calm the situation. Police allege he continued confronting her about the breakup. When her attention shifted away from him, investigators say Nahle splashed liquid believed to be gasoline on the left side of her body and then ignited it. Reports based on the affidavit say he subsequently helped remove her burning shirt. The restrained account in the court reporting does not require further graphic detail to convey the seriousness of the injuries.
The alleged instruction to conceal the cause of those injuries became another part of the investigative timeline. Unlike the texts and recorded call, it was not described as a written or independently recorded statement. It came from the woman’s later report about what Nahle told her while she was receiving treatment. Investigators had to assess that claim alongside the medical record, the subsequent communications and her explanation for remaining in contact with Nahle. The public reports do not indicate that hospital personnel accused Nahle at the time or that police were summoned during the woman’s initial treatment.
After the Aug. 15 phone call, police moved quickly. Officers found Nahle at his Tempe workplace on Aug. 18. He was arrested and brought in for questioning, but reports say he declined to answer investigators after being advised of his rights. Thus, the statements publicly attributed to Nahle in the case did not come from a post-arrest interrogation. The key alleged admissions instead came from the call recorded by the woman before officers detained him. That sequence matters because it separates evidence obtained by the woman during the investigation from any statement made while Nahle was in police custody.
Initial jail and court reporting said Nahle faced two aggravated assault counts and additional accusations of stalking, threatening or intimidating and aggravated domestic violence. Law&Crime described the charges as multiple felonies that included aggravated assault and stalking. News accounts also said a records check showed previous domestic violence convictions. Prior convictions may affect how prosecutors or courts handle separate legal questions, but they are not proof that a defendant committed a new offense. The May allegations must stand on the evidence associated with this case.
The texts and recorded call cited by investigators may become part of any prosecution, but their weight and context remain matters for the court to consider. No reliable source reviewed through Sept. 28 reported a trial verdict or other final resolution, leaving the evidence described after Nahle’s arrest as allegations that have not yet been adjudicated.
Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.