The Chicago community has been in shock following a series of arsons targeting holiday decorations in the Lincoln Square, North Center and Roscoe Village neighborhoods. On Tuesday, Mario Munoz, a 34-year-old Logan Square man, was charged with one felony count of arson for setting fire to a Halloween display outside a Roscoe Village home and one misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property for an incident in North Center.
Around 4 a.m. on October 11, a 31-year-old man discovered the Roscoe porch fire and extinguished it on time. The fire had damaged a decorative bale of hay, the porch floor, and a column, but thankfully no one was injured. At the same time, a Ring camera captured Munoz cutting the heads off inflatable Halloween decorations outside a residence in the 4100 block of Maplewood Avenue in North Center.
In court on Wednesday, the judge ruled that Munoz would remain in custody until his trial. So far this month, a total of nine porch fires have been witnessed in the three affected neighborhoods. Apart from the one that Munoz was charged with, a porch fire was reported in the 2200 block of West Ainslie Street around 2 a.m. on Saturday, as well. While the Police didn’t comment on whether Halloween decorations were targeted in this case, residents have been evacuated from their homes in fear of further arsons.
The eight other arsons, which included both Halloween and autumn decorations, reportedly occurred at the following times and locations:
- 1:50 a.m. October 4 in the 4600 block of North Lincoln Avenue
- 3:48 a.m. October 4 in the 2100 block of West Montrose Avenue
- 4 a.m. October 4 in the 4500 block of North Lincoln Avenue
- 4:13 a.m. October 7 in the 4600 block of North Lincoln Avenue
- 2:58 a.m. October 9 in the 4000 block of North Lincoln Avenue
- 3:10 a.m. October 11 in the 2100 block of West Agatite Avenue
- 3:43 a.m. October 11 in the 2200 block of West Roscoe Street
- 3:27 a.m. October 16 in the 3600 block of North Hoyne Avenue
The arsons have caused great distress among residents, particularly those who used to put up Halloween decorations. In fact, some of them have completely taken down their decorations out of fear. As one local woman shared, “It’s upsetting to feel like in the middle of the night, out of your control, something like this can happen.”
The police are currently still looking into the matter, and it remains unclear whether Munoz is a suspect in any of the other fires. Nevertheless, this disturbing trend of arsons has instilled an atmosphere of fear within the community, as local authorities work to crack down on such incidents.
