Man charged with setting fire to Elgin home during domestic dispute

A domestic argument got heated Wednesday morning when a man allegedly doused a northwest suburban Elgin home in gasoline and set it on fire.

Officers were called at 9:25 a.m. Sept. 6 to a house in the 900 block of Carol Avenue, where a man was reportedly “threatening bodily harm while dumping cans of gasoline inside the house,” according to a statement from Elgin police.

Responding officers found the caller about a block away from the house, and when they reached the home, the front of the structure “exploded into flames that engulfed the house,” police said.

The officers found 60-year-old Larry Harris in the back yard and took him into custody, police said.

Emergency crews searched the house and brought the fire under control within 20 minutes, according to a statement from the City of Elgin. Two people were treated at the scene and one of them was taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin for additional treatment.

Detectives from the Major Investigations Division found “evidence of accelerant use” inside the home, police said. Harris, who lives in Elgin, was charged with felony counts of residential arson and criminal damage to property and a misdemeanor count of domestic battery.

As of Monday afternoon, Harris was not in custody and a warrant was out for his arrest, according to the Kane County state’s attorney’s office.