Carpentersville man gets 9 years for setting restaurant fire

A Carpentersville man was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday for intentionally setting a fire at an Algonquin restaurant in June 2005.

McHenry County Judge Joseph Condon ordered Jose J. Rivera, 23, of the 100 block of Maple Tree to also pay $2,375 to the owners of Mandile's restaurant and $3,300 in court costs and fees.

A jury in February found Rivera guilty of aggravated arson and arson stemming from a June 2005 fire that prosecutors said Rivera intentionally set in the restaurant's women's washroom.

Authorities said Rivera, who was attending a dance rehearsal at the restaurant, walked into the washroom, used a cigarette lighter to ignite a floral arrangement hanging above a mirror and left without telling anyone about the fire.

Restaurant workers were able to extinguish the fire before it spread throughout the restaurant. By his own account, Rivera helped put the fire out. No one was injured.