Security footage led police to an unhoused man who admitted lighting a fire in Evanston last week and is a suspect in two other fires the same day, police said Tuesday.
Michael Flynn, 52, a man living with homelessness, is charged with arson in connection with an Oct. 19 fire on the south side of Evanston, police said in a news release.
“It is important to get an arsonist off the street,” said Evanston police commander, Ryan Glew. “Fires can spread to other areas and structures. They also cause other dangers such as explosions and hazmat situations.”
On Oct. 19, at approximately 10:10 p.m. Evanston police responded to a CVS pharmacy in the 100 block of Asbury Avenue for an arson investigation, the release said.
It said officers saw a trash can near the pharmacy and a bus stop fully engulfed in flames, and the Evanston fire department was called to extinguished the fire.
The officers started an investigation and with assistance from the Evanston 911 Communications Center, they determined that city cameras in the area of the arson captured the incident, the release said. It said the offender was captured on video setting the fire and leaving on foot.
The investigation expanded to include two other incidents, including an Oct. 19 grass fire in the 900 block of Howard that took place a few hours before the arson at CVS, according to the release. It said workers with the Communications Center reviewed video from city cameras, which captured a subject leaving the area of the fire, but did not capture the fire being set.
Approximately two hours after the CVS incident, an officer located a trash can on fire at Ridge Avenue and Howard Street on the Chicago side of the street, said the release. It said employees at the Communications Center reviewed video from city cameras, which captured the offender setting the fire and leaving on foot. The offender was the same subject from the CVS arson and the same subject leaving the scene of the grass and brush fire, the release said.
It said that shortly after midnight on Oct. 20, police located Flynn who was taken into custody for the arsons. Flynn admitted to setting the fires and the State’s Attorneys Office approved one count of arson in connection with the fire near the CVS pharmacy, said the release. They said he is a suspect in the two addition fires but that he has yet to be charged in those crimes.
“Making an arrest in this case creates a safer environment for the community and first responders,” said Glew.
Flynn received a $200,000 bond, he remains in Cook County Jail and his next court date is November 14 at the Skokie Courthouse, said the release.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
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