Police allege Surry Hills man stabbed himself and set fire to his own restaurant, killing dog

Three weeks ago, 37-year-old Angelo Ziotas was pulled from the first floor of his burning Surry Hills restaurant by a passing delivery driver. Now police claim he staged the entire incident, but don’t know why.

A Sydney restaurateur repeatedly stabbed himself in the back before setting his own business on fire — killing his dog — police allege.
Three weeks after 37-year-old Angelo Ziotas was pulled from the first floor of his burning Surry Hills restaurant by a passing delivery driver, detectives claim he staged the entire incident.

Police now allege Ziotas was the man in dark clothing. Picture: NSW Police

The passing driver pulled Ziotas to safety as fire tore through Essenza Italian on Crown St about 11am on July 4.

Ziotas was found with stab wounds to his back.
Strike Force Stockdale was formed to investigate and detectives released vivid CCTV footage on July 16 of a man, dressed in black with his face covered, creeping through the restaurant courtyard more than an hour before the fire.

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At 9.30am on Friday Ziotas was arrested at Surry Hills Police Station.
Ziotas is not believed to have made an insurance claim over the incident and police were puzzled as to his alleged motive.
“He is currently being charged with deliberately causing fire to that premises, public mischief-style offences, and also offences relating to the death of the pet dog,” Detective Chief Inspector Adam Johnson said.

Ziotas had to be rescued but his dog died in the fire. Picture: Anton Rose

“It was a complex investigation. There was a lot information to be collated and a lot of evidence to sort through. It’s a very serious incident.
“The person that is currently being charged with the offences I just outlined we will be alleging is the person that you see in that (CCTV) footage.
“We will allege there was one person responsible for this matter.
“The public mischief charge related to giving police information that made us conduct an investigation which was not quite right.”
Ziotas’ wife is understood to be distraught over the allegations.