Libertyville man charged in arsons

A 26-year-old Libertyville man has been charged for starting two house fires and attempting to start two additional garage fires on March 24, police officials announced Wednesday.

Kyle C. Kowal, 26, of the 600 block of West Street, is held on $500,000 bond in Lake County jail, Libertyville Police Lt. Scott Fabbri said.

Kowal is charged single counts of aggravated arson, arson, attempted arson and burglary, Fabbri said. It’s unclear at this time how long Kowal could be behind bars if found guilty on all counts.

Fabbri said Kowal was taken into custody without incident following a traffic stop at 10 p.m. on March 29.

All the fires and attempted fires set in the early morning hours of March 24 on Homewood Drive, Cook Avenue and Laurel Avenue were connected, along with a burglary at the Picnic Basket in the 500 block of N. Milwaukee Avenue, Fabbri said. He would not say what evidence investigators found that links the arsons to the robbery.

Fabbri said investigators uncovered evidence of attempted arson at a house in the 200 block of Homewood Drive and at a house in the 300 block of Laurel Avenue shortly after fires broke out at houses in the 200 block of Homewood Drive and the 200 block of West Cook Avenue.

The fires were investigated by the police, the Libertyville Fire Department and the Illinois State Fire Marshal.

Each attempted arson resulted in only minor damages to the houses involved, Fabbri said.

The first major fire started in rear of the house in the 200 block of Homewood Drive shortly before 3 a.m. That fire was under control within about 20 minutes, but preliminary estimates place damages at $150,000 and the residence was left uninhabitable.

Less than an hour later at about 4:05 a.m., a second fire was struck in the 200 block of Cook Avenue. Firefighters arrived to find a two-story detached garage ablaze. With the assistance of nine fire departments, firefighters got the blaze under control about 5:30 a.m.

The fire started near the rear of the house and spread to a neighboring residence to the west, firefighters said. The garage was described as a complete loss and damage to a neighboring house was described as extensive inside and out, but damage estimates were not available.

No one was injured in any of the fires or the burglary, officials said.

Kowal is the son of Conrad “Connie” Kowal, Libertyville’s recreation and Sports Complex director and Sally Kowal, the village clerk.