A man accused of setting fires in a downtown Chicago Target store and a suburban hotel has been sentenced to five years in prison.
On September 28, 2023, around 7 p.m., Ronald Langley allegedly used WD-40 and a lighter to ignite pillows and blankets in the bedding department of the Target store at 1 South State Street. He received a 10-year sentence for that crime last summer.
You may remember this viral video clip of the fire:
Although there were no reported injuries, officials estimated that the store’s damage exceeded $100,000.
Soon after Langley was sentenced in August, prosecutors revealed that the fire was actually a distraction intended to draw attention from store personnel while an accomplice stole more than $2,000 worth of phones.
In August, after Langley’s sentencing, prosecutors revealed the fire was a distraction to divert attention from store personnel while an accomplice, 38-year-old Kenneth Hasley, stole over $2,000 worth of phones. As customers and employees evacuated or managed the fire, Hasley allegedly hid near the elevators, used a crowbar to break into a display case, and stole multiple phones.
A Target security guard attempted to stop Hasley, but prosecutors said Hasley pepper-sprayed the guard and fled.
Even with the fire blazing elsewhere in the store, a Target security guard tried to prevent Hasley from leaving with the merchandise. Prosecutors said Hasley pepper-sprayed the guard and fled.
In a separate case, a grand jury indicted Hasley on multiple counts of arson and criminal damage for a fire set in a guest room at the Radisson Hotel Schaumburg, 1550 North Roselle Road, on November 22, 2022.
Hasley has now pleaded guilty to arson in both cases. Judge Marc Martin sentenced him to five years for the hotel fire, and Judge Mariano Reyna imposed a concurrent five-year sentence for the Target incident. Prosecutors dropped the related robbery charge.
In a strange coincidence, about three months after Langley’s guilty plea and Hasley’s arrest, a woman was arrested for allegedly setting fire to a display in the same Target store.
Surveillance video showed Brittny Brown, 40, entering the store around 6 p.m. on November 23, 2024, and heading to the second floor where she allegedly set fire to shelving, bedding, bath products, perishables, and dog treats, causing $672.33 in damages, according to prosecutors.
Loss prevention officers extinguished the fire and detained Brown, a CPD report said. No injuries were reported. Officials did not offer a motive for the incident.
Brown’s arson case is still pending.
