Cook County

Suburban Man Charged with Setting Ex-Girlfriend's Apartment on Fire

He was upset that she had broken up with him, especially because it meant he couldn’t see their children as often as he wanted

A northwest suburban man is facing a felony charge after prosecutors say he angrily set fire to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in Mount Prospect.

Cook County Associate Judge Sophia Atcherson denied bail on Saturday for 23-year-old Luis Ixtlapale-Mirto, who was charged with one count of aggravated arson, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

On Friday, Ixtlapale-Mirto went to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in the 1100 block of Boxwood Drive in Mount Prospect, where she lives with their two children and her mom and sister, according to Cook County prosecutors. He was upset that she had broken up with him, especially because it meant he couldn’t see their children as often as he wanted.

After he picked up the children, ages 1 and 3, from their mother’s home, Ixtlapale-Mirto dropped them off at a babysitter before he returned to the apartment and used a lighter to set fire to two closets, prosecutors said.

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No one in the apartment was injured.

The ex-girlfriend’s belongings in both closets were completely burned, and the two next-door apartments sustained heavy water damage, prosecutors said.

Ixtlapale-Mirto, who lives in Des Plaines with his parents, will remain in Cook County Jail and is next scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

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