Schaumburg man charged with setting fires in Arlington Hts.

Prosecutors say a Schaumburg man ignited a fire earlier this month at an Arlington Heights apartment complex to scare his girlfriend into moving in with him.

And when that didn't work, Arlington Heights police say Steven E. Wilson, 36, of 1220 Cambia Drive, started a second fire Friday morning, about 500 feet away from the Nov. 2 fire.

Wilson is charged with two counts of aggravated arson. He appeared Saturday before Judge Alfred Levinson who set Wilson's bond at $250,000.

Police arrested Wilson after a small fire at 5:09 a.m. Friday on the 500 block of Euclid Avenue in Arlington Heights. Investigators found a gasoline accelerant, making the fire suspicious.

A witness reported seeing Wilson at the scene of Friday's fire and at the scene of another suspicious fire that took place the night of Nov. 2 nearby on the 500 block of North Walnut Avenue, police said.

Investigators matched Wilson's vehicle to the scenes of the two fires, and called him in for questioning Friday at the police station, where he was arrested, police said.

In court Saturday, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Ketki Schroff Steffen said Wilson's girlfriend was living in the apartment complex, and that Wilson wanted to "frighten and scare her to get her to move back in with him."

Wilson used gasoline and a lit cigarette to ignite a fire in the apartment's common room, Steffen said.

Steffen said no one was hurt in either fire, but flames caused "significant damage" in the first blaze, and an evacuation was needed.

Public defender Daniel Naranjo said Wilson is single and has two children. He's worked at a store in Rolling Meadows for the past year, Naranjo added.

Wilson was ordered not to have any contact with his girlfriend before the next court date Dec. 20.

Wilson received a year probation for a 1997 arrest in Little Rock, Ark., for a domestic battery-related charge, Steffen said.

This is the second arson case this week involving Arlington Heights. A pair of Arlington Heights teens appeared in court Wednesday, after being accused of starting a house fire Oct. 1. No one was hurt, but the fire caused $150,000 damage.