Police: stabbing and fire may be linked

Police are investigating whether a stabbing Saturday night in an east side Elgin convenience store is linked to a Sunday morning fire inside a nearby apartment complex, which officials say was set on purpose.

Roughly seven hours elapsed between the fight and the fire.

At 10:57 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a call of a brawl inside the Price Rite gas station's convenience store at 180 Kimball Street, which shares an alley with the building that was set on fire, said police Sgt. Dennis Hood.

When police arrived Saturday night, they found one man had been stabbed and two others were injured. An 18-year-old man sustained a stab wound to his stomach, while an 18-year-old man and a 26-year-old man suffered head and neck lacerations. None of the injuries were life-threatening, police said.

The stabbing victim remained hospitalized Sunday at Sherman Hospital. The two other men have been treated and released, police said.

Roughly seven hours later, on Sunday morning, a nearby apartment building was set on fire. At 5:34 a.m., firefighters were called to the eight-unit, 2½-story building at 160 Kimball St. to extinguish the flames that originated in a first-floor studio apartment, then spread to the attic, said Battalion Chief Greg Benson.

The police and fire departments have jointly confirmed that the fire, which injured one, left 18 homeless and racked up $200,000 worth of damage, was arson.

"It's definitely suspicious," Hood said.

Hood declined to elaborate on the evidence that led agencies to that conclusion.

One firefighter was treated on the scene for a minor burn on his elbow, Benson said.

Most residents had evacuated before firefighters helped the rest to safety, Benson said.

The Red Cross was on the scene to assist with relocation efforts.

Firefighters from Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, Rutland-Dundee and Carpentersville assisted on the scene.