Elmhurst Man's House Afire After Repeated Arrests

ELMHURST, IL – Firefighters responded Friday morning to a fire at the house of a 68-year-old Elmhurst man who has been arrested repeatedly.

The fire occurred about 9 a.m. at 471 N. Van Auken St., police said.

As of Monday morning, the windows were boarded up, and a tarp appeared to cover a section of the roof. A white SUV was in the driveway.

Police said the man told officers that the fire started accidentally on the stove.

In response to Patch's inquiry, Police Chief Michael McLean said Elmhurst police and the DuPage County Fire Investigation Task Force were looking into whether the fire was accidental or otherwise.

He said the police department cannot publicize people's medical or mental health information because of privacy protections.

"Generally, I can confirm individuals must meet the legal standard of being an articulable danger to themselves or others to be taken into protective custody and involuntarily committed for mental health reasons," McLean said. "Those not meeting that specific legal standard must voluntarily agree to seek treatment. The Elmhurst Police Department works with our community partners to connect those we encounter with the supports available countywide."

Former neighbor Diana Enders said the police could do more.

"No one takes things seriously until it happens," Enders said in an interview Monday. "We are not shocked. This was bound to happen."

She emailed Police Chief Michael McLean about her concerns.

In response, the chief said for about 15 months until September 2026, the police received no 911 calls or incident reports at the man's address. McLean invited Enders to call him about the steps Elmhurst police, the courts and mental health authorities have taken over the past couple of years to address the issues involved.

Over the years, the man has been arrested in incidents involving his neighbors, according to police reports.

Last Monday, he was charged with disorderly conduct after he was destroying a fence with a hammer three hours before dawn, police said. Police also said they cited him for trespassing in the neighborhood.

In April 2025, the man was charged with attempted aggravated assault, criminal damage to property (two counts) and criminal trespass to property. Police took him to the DuPage County Jail.

Police alleged the man tried to batter a neighbor with a metal pipe after knocking on the neighbor's door.

A week earlier, officers charged the man with illegal dumping on a neighbor's property, police said. That was after the neighbor alleged that he threw steaks into her yard toward her dogs.

In March 2025, police said he scratched the hood of a woman's car using broken glass in the middle of the day in the 200 block of North York Street.

In October 2023, police said the man banged on a woman's front door in his block and damaged her screen and Halloween decorations. He was found and refused to follow officers' commands, police said.

In both cases, he was charged with criminal property damage.