TUSTIN : Restaurateur Says Threat Preceded Fire

A fire that torched the Cook Book Restaurant last week may have been set by an arsonist who blamed the Lebanese-American owner for terrorist activities, co-owner Tom Pelon said Friday.

Pelon said he and his employees received six calls before the million-dollar blaze from a man who accused the owner of helping Middle Eastern hostage-takers.

“He told me, ‘I know you are Lebanese, and you’d better free the hostages,’ ” Pelon said. “I told him, ‘OK, I’ll call and free them tomorrow.’ He told me to get . . . out of the country. I said, ‘OK, I’ll leave Monday.’ He said: ‘I might kill you by Monday.’ ”

“To me it was a big joke. . . . I don’t know if he took my answer as if I were responsible (for the hostages). I shouldn’t have answered him that way. If this guy is a psycho, he probably thought I could free them.”

Pelon said he received the call on May 5. Five days later, at 2:27 a.m., his restaurant was set fire by arsonists, said Kathleen Cha, Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman.

Pelon reported receiving threatening phone calls two days before the fire, Police Sgt. Jim Hein said.

The Cook Book Restaurant was a popular eatery that served continental food and became a favorite spot for banquets.

Ahmad Ezzeddine, the other co-owner, said the restaurant was insured for $200,000. Fire officials estimated the damage at about $400,000.

Pelon said the first call came to his residence in Riverside when a man left a message on his answering machine threatening to kill him. Pelon shrugged it off as a prank. But after he and his employees received more calls, he notified police.

“I have nothing to do with the hostages in Lebanon,” Pelon said. “I haven’t been politically active since I left my country. . . . I’m against hostage-holding.”

Pelon, now 28, said he moved to the United States eight years ago and became a citizen four years later. The co-owners bought the Cook Book Restaurant for $425,000 in 1987, he said.

“I’ve never been scared in my life,” he said. “But now I’m scared. The guy sounded like he was serious.”

Pelon said an insurance investigator told him it looked like the arsonist had used five to 10 gallons of a flammable liquid to ignite the fire.