Ford Heights Firefighter Trainee Charged With Arson
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A firefighter trainee with the Ford Heights fire department accused of setting at least three fires in the south suburb has been ordered held on a $20,000 bond.
Kaumain Allen, 19, was charged Wednesday with three counts of arson, according to a statement from the Cook County sheriff's office.
A sheriff's officer conducting a premise check Monday found Allen in the 900 block of East 15th Street, according to the statement.
Allen identified himself as a member of the fire department and told the officer he was there to retrieve equipment left in the area, according to the statement. The officer learned that the department did not send Allen there, and the sheriff's office launched an investigation.
Detectives learned that Allen, who is a trainee with the fire department, set fire to three homes — two in the 1400 block of Congress Lane and one in the 1500 block of Congress Lane — and responded with the fire department to help extinguish them.
On Thursday he was ordered held on a $20,000 bond, according to the sheriff's office. He is next scheduled to appear in court April 8.
Since October, a total of 11 vacant homes and two vehicles fires have been reported in Ford Heights, according to the sheriff's office.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at (708) 865-4896.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)