Evanston police say a 52-year-old homeless man has been charged in connection with three arson fires along Howard Street last Wednesday.
Police Cmdr. Ryan Glew says city cameras captured video of Michael Flynn setting a fire in a trash can near the bus stop at the CVS Store in the 100 block of Asbury Avenue about 10:10 p.m. Wednesday and then leaving on foot.
Glew says surveillance video also captured Flynn setting a trash can on fire on the Chicago side of Howard Street at Ridge Avenue about two hours later, and spotted him leaving the scene of a grass fire in the 900 block of Howard a few hours before the arson at CVS.
Shortly after midnight Thursday, Glew says, officers located Flynn and took him into custody. Glew says that while in custody Flynn made an admission to setting the fires.
The Cook County State’s Attorneys Office approved an arson charge against Flynn, and he remains in the Cook County Jail under a $200,000D bond. His next court date is Nov. 14 at the Skokie Courthouse.