CHICAGO — Two people are charged with arson after they set a fire in the South Side building where they had been squatting, according to prosecutors.
Danielle Gardner, 21, and Dwayne Kohler, 27, both of the 8000 block of South Marquette Avenue, are charged with one count each of residential arson, police said.
Judge James Brown ordered Gardner held on a $150,000 bail after her bond hearing on Sunday. Kohler was hospitalized with an undisclosed injury, according to police, and did not appear in court.
They were arrested Friday after being identified as the ones who set fire to a building in the 8000 block of South Marquette Avenue. According to Assistant State's Attorney Amanda Pillsbury, the two were among squatters who were at one point living in the foreclosed building.
The pair allegedly soaked a garbage can full of trash with lighter fluid and set in ablaze, placing it next to the building, police said.
Gardner admitted to police that she doused the garbage can with the lighter fluid, according to arrest documents.
No one was injured, but the roof of the building collapsed while firefighters were attacking the blaze, leading them to issue a mayday distress call.
