A 66-year-old man set his wife on fire outside a Jewel-Osco store in the Uptown neighborhood after accusing her of stealing $600, Cook County prosecutors alleged.
Authorities said the burns to James Roberts’ wife are so severe her survival is in question.
Roberts doused his 60-year-old wife with a flammable liquid – rubbing alcohol, according to Chicago police – and set her on fire at about 9 p.m. Sunday outside the grocery store at 4315 N. Broadway, said Assistant State’s Attorney Erin Antonietti.
A witness saw the flames and attempted to smother them, Antonietti said, but Roberts’ wife suffered third-degree burns to 40 percent of her body, including both arms, her face and her front torso. She was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital.
“It’s not yet known if she will survive these serious and life-threatening injuries,” she said.
Police recovered a lighter on the scene and two more in Roberts’ possession, according to Antonietti.
Roberts, of the 1400 block of South Canal Street, is charged with felony counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery as well as misdemeanor possession of cannabis. He is hospitalized at Advocate Illinois Masonic Health Center with “heart issues,” a police officer testified today.
“This is a vicious attack,” Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. said before ordering that Roberts be held without bail.