Prison for Elgin Tower arsonist for damaging storefronts
A 60-year-old homeless man on probation for setting fire to the Elgin Tower Building was sentenced to 30 months in prison for damaging two storefronts in May 2015, also in downtown Elgin.
Tommy W. McBurney also must pay $677 restitution to two businesses as part of his guilty plea Thursday for felony criminal damage to property, according to Kane County court records.
Judge John Barsanti accepted McBurney's guilty plea in the May 4 incident in which Elgin police say he broke windows at the Cannella School of Hair and the Redwood Inn, at 117 W. and 118 W. Chicago St., respectively.
Police said McBurney was caught on video using rocks to break the windows.
At the time of this offense, McBurney was on probation for another downtown Elgin offense: setting fire to an elevator at the iconic Elgin Tower Building, 100 E. Chicago St., on May 11, 2014, records show.
The 15-story, art deco building was unoccupied at the time.
McBurney faced up to seven years in prison on the arson charge, but he pleaded guilty and got two years of probation.
He faced up to three years in prison for breaking the windows and had at least four previous felony arrests, according to court records.
McBurney gets credit for 184 days served at the Kane County jail, where he was held while the case was pending, and he can have his prison term cut in half for good behavior.