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Caught On Camera: Man Douses Neighbor's Porch With Diesel And Tries To Set It On Fire

STOCKTON (CBS13) - A homeowner is speaking out after a man doused her front porch with diesel and then tried to set it on fire.

"The splashing is what I keep hearing over and over," Sandi said.

This chilling video all caught on a Ring camera.

"You can hear him struggling to breathe as he's trying to light it and pour more," she said.

Sandi asked that we conceal her identity, but said that she knew right away this was her neighbor.

"It's like what was he thinking? What was he trying to do? Obviously, he was trying to kill us all," Sandi said. "I went into a panic. I ran down the stairs, I woke everybody up, I called the cops."

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Sandi and her family with two young sons were at home fast asleep.

"I thought the house was on fire, I could smell gasoline," she said.

She woke up to the Ring alert on her phone. The house wasn't on fire and police say it's because the suspect used diesel instead of gasoline.

"They said had it had been gasoline, he would've blown up as well as we all wouldn't be here today. We all would've been dead," Sandi said.

Cuong Pham, 38, was arrested for arson and attempted murder charges. (credit: Stockton PD)

Stockton police arrested 38-year-old Cuong Pham for arson among multiple attempted murder charges. Neighbors can't believe he would take it this far.

"He does this around the neighborhood, rings our doorbells, or asks us to borrow money," said Scott, the next door neighbor.

Scott says Pham was at his home just the night before.

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"It could've been our house that he could've nailed and it's kind of scary thought," he said.

And as far as a motive? Nobody knows why Pham did it.

"I've just never had any problems or any issues, I just don't understand why. Why were we targeted?" Sandi said.

Sandi says at least that threat is gone for now.

"This is our home, this is where we live, we are just going to have to make the best of it and put it in God's hands and hope for the best," she said.

The suspect has since been charged with five counts of attempted murder and since there were two children in the house, two counts of child endangerment.

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