Man charged with arson in fire at Glendale Heights 7-Eleven

A Chicago man has been accused of setting a display of snack chips on fire in a Glendale Heights convenience store, damaging more than $5,000 worth of product.

Anish Premkumar, 22, of the 400 block of West Chicago Avenue, is charged with one count of arson ‒ causing $150 or more in property damage, a Class 2 felony.

The fire happened about 1:10 a.m. Jan. 25 at the 7-Eleven store at 1969 Bloomingdale Road, according to the charge.

The charge was filed on Feb. 14. Premkumar was arrested Tuesday, according to DuPage County jail records.

Judge Joshua Dieden denied pretrial detention on Wednesday.

According to the petition, Premkumar and two men went to the end of an aisle where chips were displayed on an endcap.

According to the petition, surveillance images show Premkumar using a torch lighter to set at least one bag of chips on fire.

He then walked away, turned back and tried to extinguish the fire. Customers put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but it reignited. Smoke filled the store, according to the petition. Nobody was injured.

When questioned several days later, Premkumar denied having the lighter or setting the fire, according to the petition. When questioned again, he allegedly told investigators he and the other men “were just playing around,” according to the petition.

One of the other men showed police a group text message that read, “Anish cannot be trusted with pyrotechnics,” according to the petition.

The petition argued Premkumar should be detained on the grounds he presented a danger to the community.

“The fact that the defendant on a whim was willing to set items on fire with a torch-style lighter, while people were inside the 7-Eleven, is extremely dangerous and even more brazen,” Assistant State’s Attorney Alyssa Rabulinski wrote in the petition.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240221/crime/man-charged-with-arson-in-fire-at-glendale-heights-7-eleven/