advertisement

Police: Des Plaines man set fire to neighbor's gas meter, lawn

A Des Plaines man was charged Monday with aggravated arson after authorities said he poured gasoline on a neighbor's natural-gas meter and lawn and set them on fire last week.

Jason G. John, 36, of the 1000 block of Rose Avenue, was denied bond during an initial court appearance and is in custody at the Cook County jail awaiting trial.

Police said John poured gasoline and set fire to the house's gas meter and front lawn about 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire, according to a news release.

Police said all of the home's residents were inside at the time of the fire, though no one was injured. John appeared to be intoxicated at the time, police added.

The homeowner, Henry Krol, said Monday most of his family was upstairs asleep, as he saw the orange glow of flames from his window. Police said he and John were involved in an argument several weeks earlier.

"I'm trying to figure out why someone would want to kill me over a swear word," Krol said. "We were in this house and we could have died."

There was some fire damage to the siding on the house, authorities said.

An investigation into last week's fire led to John as a suspect, and a search warrant executed at his house uncovered evidence tying him to the arson, authorities said.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.