Oak Lawn Man Charged With Arson
OAK LAWN, Ill. (STMW) -- An Oak Lawn man has been charged with arson stemming from a Saturday morning explosion and fire that destroyed his residence, according to Oak Lawn police, the Southtown Star is reporting.
Arunas Samoska, 48, was charged with two counts of aggravated arson and one count of residential arson, according to a press release from the police department. Samoska appeared in Cook County Court in Bridgeview on Monday and a judge denied him bond.
Samoska poured gasoline throughout the house and the vapors are believed to have ignited, causing the explosion, according to the release. Prosecutors said he went to a gas station and bought $40 worth of gasoline and poured it throughout his home, including the living room and the bed in the master bedroom.
The vapors ignited when Samoska went out to his garage behind the home to get more gasoline, prosecutors said. The explosion and subsequent fire rendered the home a complete loss, officials said. No one was in the home at the time of the explosion and there were no injuries in the blast.
The force of the explosion was so great, however, that bricks were scattered around the yard, walls were blown out, the front wall buckled and houses on either side sustained damage.
Oak Lawn police said they had been called to the home at 8904 S. 55th Court at about 2 a.m., three hours before the fire, and intervened in a verbal disagreement.
Samoska is scheduled back in court on Feb. 3.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
