LAKEVIEW — A series of Lakeview fires that destroyed a truck over Labor Day weekend might have been connected to June arsons that torched eight cars and a canopy, police said Wednesday.
About 4:30 a.m. Sunday, firefighters were called to the 800 block of West Roscoe Street, where someone had set fire to a mattress in an alley. No buildings or cars were damaged.
Fifteen minutes later, police were called to the 1000 block of West Wellington Avenue, where a coach house was engulfed in flames. The house was later destroyed, but the incident was not classified as an arson.
Around 5:10 a.m., another fire was reported in the 3200 block of North Kenmore Avenue. A white pickup truck was destroyed.
"We think [the two arsons] are connected to the ones you had in June, where we had a bunch of cars in a row" torched, Town Hall police Capt. Bill Looney said Wednesday night at a community policing meeting.
Looney said the person suspected in the June fires was in custody over the weekend when the fires on Roscoe and Kenmore were set.
"So we don't think it's the same person, but we're looking at associates," Looney said.
On June 10, someone set eight cars and a canopy on fire in an alley in the 3500 block of North Wilton Avenue. Neighbors said the fiery 4 a.m. attacks looked like something "out of a movie."
Looney on Wednesday said Town Hall police were working with the city's bomb and arson unit to investigate the more recent set of fires. Investigators have surveillance footage that captured one of the arsons.
"We're trying to see if we can enhance it," Looney said. "Right now, it's really grainy."
As of Wednesday night, no one was in custody.
Contributing: Mina Bloom
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