Wheeling teen admits starting fires

A Wheeling teenager who admitted starting two fires last summer pleaded guilty to arson and criminal damage to property Friday.

In exchange for Nathan Orlowski’s guilty plea to the class 2 felonies, Cook County Judge Ellen Mandletort sentenced the 18-year-old to 30 months probation and ordered him to undergo mental health counseling.

Additionally, Mandletort ordered Orlowski pay $1,500 in restitution.

In June, Orlowski set fire to a Dumpster located in the 500 block of Locust Court in Wheeling, said prosecutors at an earlier hearing. The fire spread to the wooden fence surrounding the Dumpster, causing about $1,500 in damages.

A month later, a witness saw Orlowski set a patch of grass on fire in the 500 block of Fairway View, the subdivision where he lives, prosecutors said.