Charges Possible After Pair Suspected Of Starting Fires In Gary
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Gary police say charges will be considered today against two men arrested a couple of days ago for deliberately starting fires in vacant buildings.
Lt. Thomas Pawlak says police are talking to the Lake County Prosecuting Attorney's Office tabout possible charges for two men in their early 20s.
Lt. Pawlak says the two men arrested apparently started fires in vacant buildings just for the thrill of it, "just to watch the fire and have the fire department come out and fight the fire."
Pawlak says the second suspect was arrested by detectives late Tuesday night.
The first person was taken into custody much earlier by police at the scene of one of the apparent arsons after receiving information from citizens in the neighborhood reference to the fire at 17th and Maryland and the 2000 block of Delaware.
Police say the first suspect allegedly told people he was a firefighter and that that's why he was at the scene. His compact car even had red and white emergency lights. But Lt. Pawlak says he is not a firefighter.
The fires Tuesday were in vacant buildings. The one on 17th and Maryland used to house a VFW Post on the first floor and apartments on the second. The building in the 2000 block of Delaware Street was an "older-type two-flat", according to Lt. Pawlak.
He says adding to the difficulty is that neither building has an owner. He says their owners are either dead or the companies that owned them no longer exist.
