Excerpts from centralillinoisproud.com:
A Norwood man is in jail Monday after being arrested in connection with two residential fires that occurred within the past week.
Troy Smith, 34, was booked into the Peoria County Jail on two counts of aggravated arson, according to online court records. He could appear in Peoria County Circuit Court later Monday for formal charging.
According to the Peoria County Sheriff, the charges relate to incidents on Aug. 17 and Aug. 20. Both occurred in the 6800 block of West Lamoine Avenue. The first fire involved a Molotov Cocktail thrown at the house at about 12:30 a.m. It was put out almost immediately and no injuries were reported.
The second fire occurred at about 11:15 p.m. Sunday. Like with the first time, the Limestone Fire Department was called out to the same block on Lamoine on a report of a house on fire. The homeowner had already put out the fire with a garden house by the time firefighters arrived. Deputies with the sheriff’s office could smell gasoline in the area. No injuries were reported.
“During the investigation deputies were informed that Troy Smith, 34 years old, who lives in the same area as the residences that caught fire, was a suspect. Deputies found that Smith fled into the woods after the fire but deputies located him at his residence approximately an hour later,” the Peoria County Sheriff said, added that Smith admitted to starting the fires.
