An Edgewater man pleaded guilty to attempted arson and walked away with a sentence of mental health probation after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into a charter school dumpster while wearing a disguise, according to court records.
Officers were watching Benjamin Scheie, 62, on a July morning last year because they had stopped him before, knew he had a concealed carry license, and had spotted a firearm in his rear waistband, according to a CPD report. Prosecutors said they saw him pull a Molotov cocktail from the trunk of his car, carry it into the parking lot at Horizon Science Academy, 4434 North Laramie Avenue, and drop it into a dumpster while knowing people were nearby. The dumpster smelled strongly of gasoline, police said.
While fleeing eastbound on Sunnyside Avenue, Scheie allegedly shed a disguise that included a wig, a fake beard, glasses, and a blue button-up shirt, hiding the items in a planter, according to CPD.
CPD’s bomb squad responded to secure the device and Scheie’s car, which was allegedly left running with all the windows down and two additional guns inside.
A grand jury indicted Scheie on charges of attempted aggravated arson with people present, possession of an explosive or incendiary device, and carrying a concealed firearm onto school grounds. He pleaded guilty to the attempted aggravated arson count in exchange for the mental health probation sentence, handed down by Cook County Judge Anjana Hansen, court records show.
Hansen ordered Scheie to submit a DNA sample for law enforcement indexing and to comply with standard probation conditions, including undergoing a mental health evaluation and completing any required treatment.
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