A man accused of starting a fire that led to a Chicago firefighter’s death was captured on surveillance footage coming out of an alley in the early-morning hours of April 23 and looking back toward a garage that was soon engulfed in flames and smoke, prosecutors said in court Saturday.
About a half hour later, Fire Department Capt. David Meyer would suffer fatal injuries after responding to the fire, prosecutors said.
Charles Green, the 44-year-old man accused of setting the fire, was ordered detained Saturday during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. About 30 firefighters and paramedics filled the courtroom’s seats to show their support for the veteran firefighter Meyer.
Green, a resident of the West Side Austin neighborhood where the fire happened, faces first-degree murder and aggravated arson charges. Prosecutors said he was identified using surveillance footage and preliminary testing that found accelerant on his clothing.
“The defendant’s actions placed first responders in danger. The defendant’s actions placed the community at danger, and the defendant’s actions led to the demise of Capt. Meyer,” Judge Antara Nath Rivera said when ordering Green to remain in custody.
Green was first captured on surveillance footage about 3:23 a.m. Wednesday. The video showed him leaving his home — about 12 blocks east of the garage fire — and walking in an alley, wearing a gray hoodie, light-colored pants and a gray skull cap, prosecutors said.
He soon reappears on camera leaving the alley and looking back at the garage. About 38 seconds later, the video showed smoke and a “flickering light,” which was apparently flames, prosecutors said. Large amounts of smoke begin to accumulate within seconds, prosecutors said.
The Fire Department responded to a 911 call at the garage at 4:02 a.m., prosecutors said. The garage roof collapsed on top of Meyer as he was working. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Office of Fire Investigation, assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, determined the fire was caused by “ignition of contents of a trash bin by human action.” Prosecutors said Green is shown passing garbage cans alongside a brick wall of the garage. They didn’t offer Green’s motive for allegedly starting the fire.
Surveillance footage from about eight minutes after the fire started shows Green at a nearby gas station, where a clerk later confirmed his identity. In addition, Green’s girlfriend also identified him on surveillance stills from the alley and gas station, prosecutors said.
Officers found lighters, lighter fluid and burnt pieces of paper at Green’s home, prosecutors said.
Green has a lengthy criminal record dating back more than 25 years. He’s been arrested more than three dozen times and was previously convicted of robbery and various drug-related charges. He also has a pending retail theft case, with an outstanding warrant for his arrest from last month, prosecutors said.
Green’s defense lawyer said the surveillance footage doesn’t show Green setting a fire but only walking in the alley, and that the view of the garage is blocked. She said Green is a lifelong Cook County resident, has worked part-time for five years as a janitor and attends church.
Rivera said, however, that Green poses a danger to the community. She said a fire is “inherently dangerous” and that she finds it “aggravating” that Green allegedly set a fire in a residential area in the middle of the night. She said leaving the scene also demonstrates “consciousness of guilt” and is “indicative of evading arrest.”
Meyer, a 54-year-old captain of Truck 29, joined the department in 1996 and spent most of his nearly 30-year career on the West Side. He left behind a wife, three daughters, a son and his parents, according to Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt. His visitation and funeral services are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Pat Cleary, president of the Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, said after the hearing that so many firefighters showed up because they are a “brotherhood and sisterhood.”
“We support each other,” Cleary said. “It’s what you would do for your own family. We’re doing it for our extended family.”
