Man tries to set pizza chef on fire, chases him with knife in Thousand Oaks

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (KABC) -- A bizarre and frightening attack inside a Thousand Oaks pizzeria as the suspect, and his dog, are on video chasing a chef through the kitchen with a large knife after attempting to set him on fire.

Raul Ferrero, the owner of Allegro Pizza, said his chef, all of a sudden, felt someone open the door and throw some liquid on his back. At first, the chef thought someone was jokingly throwing water on him, but then he smelled gasoline.

And, the chef saw a guy with a lighter in his hand.

The shocking attack happened Sunday afternoon, just before the pizza shop was set to open.

Ferrero said the chef was chopping lettuce when the 61-year-old suspect walked in the back door and armed himself with one of the chef's knives.

"The guy grabs a knife and starts following him. I couldn't believe that nothing happened in this neighborhood for the 30 years this place is open," said Ferrero.

The chef managed to escape out the back door, screaming for help. That's when a good Samaritan in the parking lot stepped in to help.

"The suspect started throwing gasoline at him, but he thought it was water, so he didn't defend himself until he smelled gasoline with the lighter, and so he punched him in the face, and he knocked him down," said Ferrero.

The suspect has been identified as Robert Haight, who is being held on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Ferrero said the suspect attacked two other people before entering the restaurant.

He said everyone is counting their blessings and is grateful the suspect is now behind bars.

"He was just not in his right mind. Thank God nobody got hurt," he said.

Ferrero said the suspect was saying that people were trying to kill him and that he appeared to be having a mental health issue.

Haight is being held on $500,000 bail.