A Vernon Hills woman charged in connection with several alleged arson cases in local parks pleaded guilty to a felony arson-related crime in New Jersey for attempting to burn a wooded area with improvised Molotov cocktails.
Stephanie Wollar, 28, who is being held in Lake County Jail after allegedly starting several garbage can fires in Vernon Hills parks last fall and one in January, pleaded guilty in Morris County, N.J., to creating a widespread risk of injury or damage.
She still awaits sentencing in New Jersey for the third-degree felony, according to Thomas A. Zelante, a first assistant prosecutor with the Morris County prosecutor’s office. Zelante said she also pleaded guilty to attempting to obtain a controlled dangerous substance by fraud, also a third-degree felony punishable by a potential three to five years in prison.
Although she pleaded guilty Dec. 1 of last year, her New Jersey sentencing hearing was rescheduled for March 6 from Jan. 30 because of her incarceration in Lake County Jail. Morris County officials had no immediate response as to what would happen if she still is at the jail on that date.
As of Tuesday, Wollar remained in Lake County Jail on $500,000 bond.
Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim said his office is aware of the out-of-state case and it would likely be taken into consideration during sentencing recommendations if she is found guilty or pleads guilty to the local charges.
According to published reports, Wollar was arrested by police in Butler, N.J., after throwing several Molotov cocktails, bottles filled with gasoline and stuffed with rags used as fuses, into the woods in Butler in August of 2013.
A nearby resident had reportedly extinguished most of the resulting fire before the Butler Fire Department arrived a short time later to take care of remaining flames, according to a report published by NJ.com. The New Jersey newspaper group’s website also reported that Wollar admitted to police that she threw the burning bottles into the woods but didn’t explain what motivated her actions.
Last month, Wollar pleaded not guilty in Lake County Circuit Court to eight 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 criminal damage to state property, a Class 3 felony that carries a possible sentencing range of two to five years in prison.
The pleas were in response to allegations she set several garbage can fires in Deerpath, Augusta and Garvanian parks in Vernon Hills in October and November, and another one on New Year’s Day in Augusta Park.
Wollar also pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and resisting arrest.
She is scheduled for trial March 16 and a case management hearing is set for March 5.
Wollar had been released to home confinement after posting 10 percent of a $75,000 bond following her arrest for the fall fires, but 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.
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