KATY, Texas — A Katy-area man faced a Houston judge Monday morning on charges of arson and aggravated assault.
Phi-de Dinh Nguyen, 46, was arrested on Oct. 23, after neighbors on Brighton Hollow Lane said he set their homes on fire and threatened them with a sword, according to court documents.
Nguyen is charged with two counts of first-degree felony arson, aggravated assault against a public servant and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors said a woman received an alert that her house was on fire. Jackie Gray said she ran outside to try and put the fire out with a hose.
“Most definitely some craziness," Gray told us.
Gray said her surveillance camera shows Nguyen pouring a can of gasoline on the side of her house and setting the fire.
“You know, I caught him doing it on film – I came out, I confront him about it, he admitted it and then after he thinks that my home was going to burn down -- I was able to contain the fire – he tried to come back, you know, with a sword to attack me," Gray said.
Video shows Nguyen pouring a liquid outside her garage while holding a Samurai-style sword and smoking a cigarette.
You can also hear Gray yelling at him.
“Oh my God, I got my kid in the house!”
Nguyen is also accused of threatening a Harris County deputy with the sword. The deputy then Tased Nguyen and arrested him.
His total bond on all four charges was set at $200,000.
Judge Danilo Lacayo also had a stern warning for Nguyen.
"If you violate your bond conditions, just one of them, one time, I will zero bond you, I will never give you another bond and you will be in the Harris County Jail until your trial date or until your case is resolved, are we clear?" the judge told him.
Gray said she and her neighbors haven't had other issues with Nguyen but they're frightening now and they're praying he is unable to post bond.
“I mean, I fear for my life – not only my life, my neighbors’ lives," she said.
Judge Lacayo also ordered that Nguyen undergo a mental health evaluation.
