"She comes running out saying there's a guy, he's full of blood and he has an ax," store clerk Carla Clerk said.
Carla was just getting to work at Johnny Quik when her sister, who was the only clerk on at the time, ran to safety, away from the man.
"We saw him just standing there. And he was staring at us all evil and we just reversed it and went across the street and we called 911 and told all the customers not to go that way," Clerk said.
The Fresno County Sheriff's Office says what started as a family disturbance in Sanger escalated with the suspect driving himself to Shaw and academy. Authorities say the hatchet wielding man smashed the windows of businesses and then went into Johnny quick.
While the clerk escaped, authorities say the suspect started a fire inside the store.
"When I saw the store it has some flames over there. But the good things were my employees were safe they were outside. I said thankfully they are safe," Johnny Quik store owner Andy Singh said.
The sheriff's office says when deputies arrived the suspect fought with them.
"At one point during the arrest of the subject he was fighting back he grabbed the taser from the deputy. I don't know if that was an attempt to take the taser and use it or get them to stop using the taser on him," Chris Curtice with the Fresno County Sheriffs office said.
Eventually, deputies were able to take the suspect into custody. He faces multiple charges including arson and felony vandalism.
Officials haven't placed an exact dollar figure on the amount of damage. The store owner said because the fire spread so quickly, he will be out of business for the next several weeks while they make repairs.
