Man with knife threatens to set California cook on fire in caught-on-video attack

June 28, 2023

Chilling video captured a knife-wielding man allegedly stalking a California pizzeria worker in a restaurant kitchen — before dousing him with lighter fluid and trying to set him on fire.

The frightening incident happened Sunday afternoon at Allegro Pizza in Thousand Oaks, where the employee was preparing pies for his shift, KABC-TV reported.

As the cook chopped lettuce about 1:45 p.m., the creep — with his little dog in tow — walked in through the back door at East Avenida De Los Arboles, grabbed one of the knives and began following him, pizza joint owner Raul Ferrero told the outlet.

“The guy grabs a knife and starts following him. He thought it was a joke. He thought it was water. When he smelled the gasoline, that was when he reacted,” he said.

The surveillance footage shows the knife-wielding assailant and his dog inside the kitchen as he holds what appears to be a lighter fluid bottle.

Pizzeria worker looks toward a door after an intruder entered — The cook at Allegro Pizza in Thousand Oaks, California, noticed that someone had entered the eatery before it opened.

Suspect seen with a knife walking toward the cook with a dog in tow. — The intruder, identified as 61-year-old Robert Wright Haight, was captured in surveillance video holding a knife as he walked with a dog before he allegedly doused the worker with lighter fluid and tried to set him on fire.

After the initial altercation, the victim fled to the rear parking lot, where he screamed for help while he was followed by the attacker, who had a lighter in his hand. A good Samaritan stepped in to help the cook.

“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,” Ferrero told KABC.

A witness told FOX 11: “I just pulled up, and the guy just got knocked out. His head is bleeding and there was another guy in the parking lot, and he was saying, ‘You need to get out of here, or I’m going to knock you out again.’”

The suspect, Robert Wright Haight, 61, of Palo Alto, was arrested on charges of attempted murder, use of a deadly weapon and assault with caustic chemicals. His bail was set at $500,000.

Allegro Pizza restaurant — The suspect was charged with attempted murder, use of a deadly weapon and assault with caustic chemicals.

Pizzeria owner Raul Ferrero — “He was just not in his right mind. Thank God nobody got hurt,” pizzeria owner Raul Ferrero said.

Ferrero said Haight allegedly attacked two other people before entering his eatery, adding that the suspect was saying that people were trying to kill him and that he appeared to be having a mental-health issue.

“He was just not in his right mind. Thank God nobody got hurt,” he told KABC.

“I couldn’t believe that nothing happened in this neighborhood for the 30 years this place is open,” Ferrero added.

The suspect’s dog was taken to a local shelter, FOX 11 reported.