Crime & Safety
Teens Linked To Prior Pheasant Run Vandalism Incidents: Police
Authorities say some of the teen accused of starting the fire at the former resort may have broken into and caused damaged in the past.
ST. CHARLES, IL — Some of the teens accused of starting the fire at the former Pheasant Run resort may have broken into and vandalized the complex in the past, authorities said this past week.
The Kane County Chronicle is reporting that while going through the electronic devices of the teens charged in connection with the May fire, police found evidence linking some of them to past incidents at the former resort, 4051 E. Main St. in St. Charles, said St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan following a city council meeting Monday. Police said the prior incidents involved the teens breaking windows and throwing things out windows at the shuttered resort.
They went into the building at least two other times prior to the May 21 fire, according to officials. Two of the teens, ages 15 and 17 years old, now face arson charges in connection with that blaze, and two others face trespassing charges.
Find out what's happening in St. Charlesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On Monday, a DuPage County judge ordered that the two boys accused of starting the fire remain behind bars for two more weeks. DuPage County Judge Anthony Coco said there was an "immediate and urgent necessity" to keep them jailed as a way to keep them from harming themselves or the public, according to the Daily Herald.
The boys are expected to be released prior to school starting in August, so they can attend classes but have been ordered to wear electronic monitors, they can only leave their house to go to school and cannot take part in extracurricular activities, and they can't have any visitors at their home unless their parents are present, according to the Daily Herald.
Find out what's happening in St. Charlesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The boys, one from Carol Stream and the other from Wheaton, were ordered to be detained after charges were filed last week against them. The two other boys, one from Carol Stream and another from Winfield, were released to their parents.
The charges come following an investigation by the St. Charles Police Department and St. Charles Fire Protection District, Illinois State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The teens are accused of illegally entering the former resort in St. Charles at about 4:40 p.m. on May 21. Two of the teens set papers on fire at two separate locations in the building and then left the area without trying to put the fires out, according to the news release.
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