Chicago Police search for arsonist who left flaming item at a person's apartment door
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Frightening video obtained by CBS 2 shows an arsonist in action on South Shore.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported Monday, the video shows someone carrying flames down the hallway and leaving them by someone's apartment door. At least five units in a couple of neighboring apartment buildings were heavily damaged by the fire that resulted -- their windows remained boarded up Monday.
The video shows a man walking with what appears to be a lit stack of paper or cardboard. He places it in front of an apartment door and then puts a doormat on it to keep the fire in place.
Sources said the man is responsible for setting four fires in one of the apartment buildings, and the flames spread to the neighboring building on the 6800 block of South Clyde Avenue in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood. The fires were set between Feb. 27 and March 5.
"I heard a glass shatter, and a fire happened shortly after that," said David Singleton.
Singleton lives near the building where the fires were set. He said he was home when one of the arsons took place.
A source said in the fire caught on video, some type of accelerant was used. A witness also saw a man with a can of lighter fluid changing his clothes in an alley after one of the fires.
"You heard the bam of the glass crack, then about 20 minutes later, the smoke started coming in on the other side of the units," Singleton said.
Sources said the last fire set by the suspect was on March 5. Trash was set on fire behind the building.
The fire trapped people in the complex. The stairway was burning, so they couldn't use the stairs, as a way to get out.
The Chicago Fire Department said some of the people living in the building were evaluated for smoke inhalation at the scene. Chicago Police said there have been no arrests and the incidents remain under investigation.
A source said the motive for the fires involved a dispute with someone in the building.