An Elmhurst resident
retaliating to a verbal dispute lit fire to the wrong house, according to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
Joseph Ziegler, 22, has been charged with felony counts of arson, residential arson and aggravated arson following a blaze Thursday that destroyed two vehicles and left a house uninhabitable.
Members of the McHenry Township Fire Protection District were called to the 5100 block of Westwood Drive at around 4:45 a.m. Firefighters arrived to find two vehicles in the driveway completely engulfed in flames with the fire extending to the garage of a home in that area, according to deputy fire chief Rudy Horist.
Witnesses later placed Ziegler at the scene, Undersheriff Andrew Zinke said. It was also determined that prior to the fire, a verbal dispute occurred between Ziegler and another person.
“The residence was not the intended target,” Zinke said. “He got the wrong house, but thankfully no one was hurt.”
The homeowner was inside the residence when the fire started, but was able to escape without being harmed.
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