Former Lake Zurich cop pleads guilty to arson charge

A former Lake Zurich police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to setting a fire in a trash receptacle last year outside a Goodwill store in Algonquin.

According to Assistant State's Attorney Rita Gara, Robert Brasky, 59, entered a guilty plea in McHenry County to the felony arson charge. Brasky was accused of setting four other small fires in the area, but the other charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea. The fire he admitted to setting happened near the Goodwill store at 1430 E. Algonquin Road.

Brasky's sentence includes two years of probation, a fine of $1,000 plus court costs and the cost to replace the trash receptacle he burned. If he violates his parole, he will have to complete a 90-day jail term that he already served two days of before he was released on bail, Gara said.

Brasky started as a Lake Zurich police officer in 1980 and served until 2008. He then got a job working for IDOT, where he worked until the time of his arrest on October 29, 2015, according to his LinkedIn page.

Gara, who prosecuted the case against Brasky, said she didn't know why he set fire to the trash receptacle.