A man in Texas was arrested after security footage allegedly showed him setting two of his neighbors’ homes on fire while wielding a machete.
Phi Le Nguyen, 46, is accused of dousing the side of a neighbor’s house with gasoline and setting it on fire before setting fire to a second neighbor’s house.
Security footage taken from a property in the affluent neighborhood appears to show him walking down the street with a can of petrol in his hand.
He was allegedly seen smoking a cigarette while dousing the side of Andy Heredia’s house with gasoline, before lighting the fire.
Phi Le Nguyen, 46, faces two counts of arson and two counts of aggravated assault after he was allegedly caught on camera setting two of his neighbors’ houses on fire while wielding a machete.
Homeowner and neighbor Andy Heredia said if Nguyen hadn’t been stopped, the damage could have been much worse.
Heredia said he stopped him after he allegedly left a burnt lawn and a small portion of burnt bricks.
The concerned resident said ABC 13 that if he had not intervened, the damage could have been much worse.
Nguyen is allegedly seen wandering a few doors down, still holding the machete. He is accused of pouring gasoline into another neighbor’s house, emptying it in the driveway and starting another fire.
Nguyen was arrested by Harris County Sheriffs and held on $150,000 bail.
Prosecutors say the footage shows him standing at the end of the driveway looking toward the house, casually smoking his cigarette and taking a swing with his machete.
Nguyen was arrested and faces two counts of arson and two counts of aggravated assault.
Court documents accused him of threatening the home’s second owner and a responding officer with the machete.
Nguyen is being held on $150,000 bail.
