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Posted: Monday, 08 June 2009 4:23PM
Woman pleads not guilty to starting Cicero apartment fire
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MAYWOOD, Ill. (STNG) -- A woman charged with starting a blaze that displaced about 50 people in west suburban Cicero last month pleaded not guilty to arson on Monday.
Chelise Hadden, 21, of the 1900 block of S. Cicero Ave., allegedly lit her own home on fire because she was angry with her boyfriend, who may have been having a relationship with her sister, Cicero spokesman Elio Montenegro said.
Hadden, who has no previous arrest record, was taken into custody May 8 and charged with three counts of aggravated arson. At the Maywood courthouse on Monday, she pleaded innocent before Associate Judge Carol Kipperman, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.
She is accused of setting fire to a dumpster in the back of the building, which started a blaze that left a police officer and firefighter injured. The Red Cross of Greater Chicago said 50 people, including 35 children, were displaced by the May 7 blaze.
The fire started in the rear of the 24-unit brick building about 2:45 p.m. and spread to the building, Cicero Fire Marshal George Gregory said. The blaze burned in two apartments and left all other units with smoke and water damage.
A Cicero firefighter suffered a separated shoulder battling the blaze and a Cicero police officer, who was first on the scene, suffered smoke inhalation while rescuing a tenant, town spokesman Eric Kohn said.
A building tenant was also treated on the scene for smoke inhalation, while all other residents were safely evacuated, Kohn said.
Hadden is scheduled for a status hearing on July 8 in Maywood, according to Simonton.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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