A Vernon Hills woman who had already entered not guilty pleas to several arson-related charges last fall pleaded not guilty again this week to additional felony charges stemming from a park fire she allegedly set earlier this year.
Stephanie Wollar, 28, was in court Thursday facing one count each of arson to personal property and criminal damage to government property for a fire she allegedly set New Year’s Day in Augusta Park in Vernon Hills. She also pleaded not guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and resisting arrest.
She is scheduled for a case management hearing March 5 with trial currently set for March 16.
Wollar pleaded not guilty earlier in January to seven counts of arson to personal property, a Class 2 felony that carries a potential sentencing range of three to seven years in prison. She also pleaded not guilty to seven counts of criminal damage to state property, a Class 3 felony, which can result in a possible sentencing range of two to five years in prison.
Those charges relate to seven fires Wollar allegedly set in garbage cans in Deerpath, Augusta and Garvanian parks over a four-week span from late October to early November.
Wollar had been released to home confinement after posting 10 percent of a $75,000 bond following her arrest for the fall fires. After her arrest for the Jan. 1 fire, Judge George Strickland, noting that “there appears to be a very serious problem here,” raised her bond to $500,000 and she has remained in jail since.
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