South suburban man admits helping set fire to CTA van during 2020 riots in Chicago

A Park Forest man admitted Thursday that he helped set fire to a Chicago Transit Authority van and threw lit fireworks at members of the Chicago Fire Department amid the rioting that broke out in the city in May 2020.

Darion Lindsey, 22, now faces a likely prison sentence of around three or more years. U.S. District Judge John Blakey scheduled his sentencing hearing for April 25, at which point Lindsey’s attorney said he’s likely to ask for time served.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David Weisman ordered Lindsey detained in April 2021, and he remains in custody in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, records show.

Federal prosecutors originally charged Lindsey in February 2021 with Denzal Stewart and Lamar Taylor. Stewart and Taylor previously pleaded guilty to an arson conspiracy and civil disorder, and Lindsey joined them in doing so Thursday.

Stewart was sentenced in 2022 to three years and nine months in prison, and he is set to be released in July, records show. Taylor got 26 months behind bars and left custody in March 2023.

But questions about Lindsey’s mental competency delayed his case. U.S. District Judge John Lee ordered in February 2022 that Lindsey be examined by a licensed or certified psychiatrist chosen by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Meanwhile, prosecutors filed a new set of criminal charges against Lindsey in May 2023. On Thursday, Lindsey admitted to Blakey that he traveled downtown on May 30, 2020 — the day protests over the police murder of George Floyd gave way to rioting in Chicago — and used a lighter to set fire to a yellow blanket or tarp inside the unoccupied CTA van.

Stewart and Taylor also admitted helping set fire to that van, which “became engulfed in flames,” according to Lindsey’s plea agreement.

Lindsey also admitted Thursday that he tried to interfere with members of the Chicago Fire Department by lighting and throwing fireworks at them.

Also prosecuted for setting fire to government vehicles during the May 2020 riots were Timothy O’Donnell and Jacob Fagundo. O’Donnell, who wore a Joker mask that day and set fire to a Chicago police vehicle, was sentenced to 34 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood. He was released from custody in November 2022, records show.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman sentenced Fagundo, who set fire to a police SUV, to three years of probation.