Restaurant owner pleads guilty to arson charges in 2008 fire

The owner of a Naperville restaurant destroyed in an explosion in late 2008 admitted in Will County court to igniting the fire.

Peter Ladias, 72, of Palos Hills, pleaded guilty to arson for setting the fire at GiGi’s Restaurant, 2728 W. 111th St. in the Will County portion of Naperville. He will be sentenced May 24.

Will County state’s attorney spokesman Chuck Pelkie said Ladias now faces between three and seven years in prison or probation as a result of the plea deal struck just days before his jury trial was to begin.

“(Ladias) struck a blind plea on the eve of his March 12 trial date,” he said.

Ladias and another man were injured when the explosion blew out the front windows and dislodged the front wall of the restaurant just before 11 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2008.

The restaurant was closed at the time of the explosion. Neighboring businesses in the strip mall also were damaged.