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Illinois insurance companies fed up with growing rate of arson in stateAssociated PressArson accounts for a reported 20 percent to 25 percent of Illinois fires, but some officials estimate the true figure is much higher.“A lot of people don't want to admit it ... because insurance rates go up,” said Clarence “Butch” Granger, an investigator with the state fire marshal's office.Granger and other law enforcement and fire officials estimate that the actual number of arsons is two or three-times the number reported.The National Fire Protection Association estimates insurance companies nationally pay out $2billion in claims each year fromsuspicious fires where they are unable to prove arson.The industry has targeted fraud as the issue of the 1990s, said Sue McKenna of the Illinois Insurance Information Service.“As part of their campaign, insurance companies are letting the public know that they are not going to sit back and let fraud hap pen.” said Hick Gilman, executive director of the Insurance Committee for Arson Control. “They are no longer going to investigate claims where the evidence points to arson, they are going to prosecute.”Federal officials say that nearly every community has experienced an increase in arson, whether it's reported or not.In a recent case, officials in northwestern Cook and DuPage counties are cooperating with the FBI in what's believed to be a series of arsons committed by a single person. Investigators believe at least 15 fires have been set by the suspect in two years, the most recent at a grocery store inRoselle last week.The motive for arson can vary from insurance profit to revenge or pyromania, and often the crime is hard to solve and prosecute.“From the standpoint of a small town, the fire chief could look at it and say, ‘It looks suspicious, but I can't say it’s definitely arson,’” said Assistant State's Attorney David Shiffer of Will County.Will Countv was the scene ofwmultiple, serious arsons during the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Officials reported 11 arsons, most of them in or near Joliet’s downtown area.Former Will County Coroner Robert J. Tezak has been indicted on charges of torching two of the buildings. Tezak has pleaded innocent.
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Mon, Apr 19, 1993
Page 140
Full Page
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AZ, USA 26 Jan 2020
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