A Texas man is facing felony charges after allegedly trying to set his neighbors’ homes in the Houston suburb of Katy on fire and threatening one woman and a cop with a sword.
Surveillance video captured 46-year-old Phi Le Nguyen pouring gasoline on his neighbor Jackie Gray’s driveway and home before the affected areas were set on fire.
Gray told local news outlets in Houston that her home surveillance system detected motion outside her home on Wednesday, Oct. 23. She went outside to find Nguyen armed with a Samurai-style sword known as a katana. She also saw a smoking gasoline can right next to her home.
“So you setting the place on fire where I live at?” Gray is heard asking Nguyen on security footage. “I just saw you and I got cameras.”
“Yeah? What you gonna do?” Nguyen responds.
“Oh my God. I got my kids in the house!” Gray exclaims.
Before targeting Gray’s home, Nguyen was also caught on camera walking to another neighbor’s home with a gasoline can. That home was also set on fire.
“Most definitely some craziness,” Gray told KHOU11. “You know, I caught him doing it on film – I came out, I confront him about it, he admitted it.”
Gray and her neighbor were able to stamp out the flames, but surveillance footage shows Nguyen return to Gray’s home and pour more gasoline on her driveway, before allegedly lighting another fire.
“He actually started pouring it up underneath my truck. Then, that’s when he started pouring it all in front of the driveway and everything else,” Gray explained.
Moments later, Gray said Nguyen stood at the end of her driveway and started swinging his sword in a threatening manner.
“He was coming with the sword kind of up in his hand, kind of like he was coming to charge at me,” she said.
When Harris County deputies arrived, Nguyen also allegedly threatened one deputy with his sword. He was tased and taken into custody.
“He goes into his garage still kind of swinging at the police officers, and that’s when they end up tasing him down,” Gray said.
Now, Nguyen faces two counts of first-degree felony arson, aggravated assault against a public servant, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A judge set his bond at $200,000 and ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation.
It’s unclear what triggered Nguyen’s alleged violent episode, but Gray said she and other neighbors have seen him behave strangely in the past.
“I mean, I fear for my life — not only my life, my neighbors’ lives,” she said.
A clip showing Nguyen pouring gasoline on Gray’s driveway circulated on social media, and many viewers argued that his charges should be more severe.
“That’s attempted murder,” one commenter wrote.
“I don’t think that attempted murder is charged often enough,” another person added. “If you set someone on fire, you should expect them to expire. Doesn’t matter if they don’t.”
