A suspected serial arsonist was arrested Tuesday afternoon.
Police believe 45-year old Thomas Chong of McCully set five fires in the Tantalus area last month.
He's also a suspect in several other arson cases.
Police caught Thomas Chong around three o'clock this afternoon on Kahuhipa Street in Kaneohe.
In this latest arson case, the homeowner caught the whole thing on surveillance video.
May 20th, around 3:45 in the morning, Hennessey Brown was jarred awake.
"The dog woke us up first. And within 2-3 minutes after he woke us up -- the explosion. From our bedroom there was a huge flash," said Hennessey Brown of Maunalaha Valley.
The security cameras outside Hennessey's home caught the arsonist setting two small fires near Hennessey's garage ahead of the explosion.
"The explosion blew these two fires out which was fortunate," said Hennssey Brown.
Now watch the arsonist as he then walks down the street to an area in front of Hennessey's neighbor's house.
That's where the explosion is about to happen.
"Pretty massive explosion. You can see how dark it is. It'll light up fast. See, he started something down there, and actually I'm surprised he didn't get hurt because it blew up almost right after he set it. You can see him walking here and boom!" said Hennessey Brown.
That's when Hennessey jumped out of bed, ran to his deck, and heard his neighbor Aileen yelling.
"I called for Mr. Brown, and he was good enough to have the hose ready and put out the fire but the fire was already almost touching our roof," said Joan Aileen Mattos Kaaiai of Maunalaha Valley.
Thanks to Hennessey's quick actions, the fires didn't do any major damage to their homes, and no one was injured.
The arsonist also set two areas on fire near Aileen's driveway.
"So scared," said Joan Aileen Mattos Kaaiai.
Turns out, Aileen and Hennessey live on the same street where the suspected arsonist's ex-girlfriend is staying.
"She said that was his favorite jacket, the kind of clothes he was wearing, his mannerisms, general height and shape, so she confirmed that was indeed him," said Hennessey Brown.
Police believe that wasn't the first time Thomas Chong targeted areas near his ex-girlfriend.
They say Chong also torched a car belonging to his ex-girlfriend's friend on May 10th in the parking lot of this Makiki apartment building.
The flames also caused damage to the units above.
Chong was indicted on five counts of arson last week, and had been free on $100,000 bail when he was picked up again Tuesday afternoon in this latest case.
"Hopefully this will help make their case a lot better," said Hennessey Brown.
"And now we can sleep a little better," said Joan Aileen Mattos Kaaiai.
Chong is being held at HPD's main cellblock awaiting charges.
