Last year Almena was accused by artists and events producers of stealing equipment, breaking contracts, and making violent threats, according to court documents.

Philippe Lewis said that he rented the Ghost Ship for an event on January 3, 2015, but that Almena demanded extra money for the space.

When he refused to pay more, he says Almena became violent and stole his sound system ‘hiding it in the space.’

During the incident, it was claimed, Almena locked individuals into the converted warehouse and held them captive.

In a petition for a restraining order filed with the Alameda Superior Court, Lewis alleged that Almena threatened him.

‘I’m going to get my gun,’ he allegedly told Lewis, who had seen a box of new bullets while in the property.

He also claims he was attacked, sustained a dislocated shoulder and was kicked in the head by Almena’s henchmen – who assaulted Lewis on their leader’s orders.

He also says claims he saw evidence of a gun and bows and crossbow weapons on the property.

A friend of Lewis’, who asked not to be named, told DailyMail.com: ‘Philippe doesn’t want to have to deal with Almena any more than he has to, they are a violent group. He’s trying to protect his family right now.’

Another man who was at the party for the same dispute wrote in court documents that: ‘I was robbed of my iPhone & Philippe’s property at Derrick’s (sic) direction & beaten by his staff.’ 

Speaking to DailyMail.com, the man who asked not to be named, said: ‘I was at a party with a friend who had set up an event. I had never been there before.

‘There was an argument over money and Almena tried to beat my friend up and I videoed it on my phone. Almena ordered his people to attack me. They beat me up as well. I called the police but nothing was done.

‘It was very sinister and I spent a lot of time telling people not to go back there.’

The man claims Almena made threats after the incident and that’s why he filed a restraining order, which ultimately wasn’t granted.

‘I showed up in court but it didn’t work out,’ he said.

Danielle Boudreaux, who has known Almena and his wife Allison for eight years, said Almena was charismatic and easily influenced those around him.

But she said she saw a ‘change’ in him due to drug use.

‘I knew Derick very well. The drugs made a big change in him. He was always this polar opposite person. One hand could be charming, making you feel you have great ideas, very able to persuade people in that way. There was always this dark vicious side underneath. That was never not present.

‘He was like a cult leader, he has that sort of charisma, draws people in.’

Almena promoted himself as a spiritual man and says on social media he’s a ‘student of the shadows’.

He purported to worship the Hindu gods Shiva and Kali.

In Hinduism our present time is Kali Yuga – ruled over by Kali, the demon who is the source of all evil. 

Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms, holds a sword in one hand and a severed head in the other.

The group’s Facebook page – presumably with Almena’s input – displays a drawing of Kali as its profile picture.

‘An unprecedented fusion of earth home bomb bunker helter skelter spelunker shelters and indonesian straw huts rolling into valleys and down alleys,’ is how Satya Yuga describes itself on the social media site.

In fact it was a warehouse near the railtracks, stuffed with junk and violating safety codes. 

The Ghost Ship building is also littered with statues of Shiva and Kali and sinister looking painted skulls and other religious symbols from Western and Eastern traditions – items collected by Almena and his wife Micah Allison during their travels.

Shiva – the destroyer – is often depicted with four arms and a serpent around his neck.

The imagery raises questions over exactly what was happening in the building. 

In a document seen by DailyMail.com in which Mack logged her grievances as a tenant at the time, she records a complaint about a fellow tenant called Lisa – a woman she says was close to Almena – saying she carried out ‘blood rituals’ in the warehouse.

She wrote: ‘Lisa is complaining about the TV but I’m not coming to you complaining when she is dripping blood in the sitting room after coming back from one of her rituals?’

Blood rituals and animal sacrifice can be used in Hinduism, which Hindus see as a way of honoring the Gods, but it is unclear if this was what ‘Lisa’ was doing. Mack declined to expand on her complaint.

Almena’s response to the fire has included language which suggested he saw himself as a father-figure.

‘They’re my children. They’re my friends, they’re my family, they’re my loves, they’re my future. What else do I have to say,’ he told San Francisco’s KGO-TV.

One of them defended him in an interview with DailyMail.com – using language which suggested Almena remained convinced he was leading a ‘family’.

Artist Anthony Perrault, 27, who ran a studio inside the building for over a year, has spent time at the Marriot hotel in Oakland with Almena and other friends in the aftermath of the fire.

He said Almena is ‘absolutely devastated’ by the tragedy and had expressed ‘warm and compassionate words’ to everyone involved.

‘We’re a family, he’s a father, they [Almena and Allison] felt safe enough to allow their children to grow and thrive in their creation.

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p class=”mol-para-with-font”>‘That place was absolutely safe, he’s a very strong man. The level of compassion comes out to anyone he invites into the warehouse, from taking people in off the streets and feeding and clothing them for a night, to doing what he can to create this whimsical world for imaginations to grow, he’s an amazing man, Micah is an amazing woman, they’re children, great, absolutely great.’