Marseilles arson suspect to be detained, judge says ‘I can’t think of anything to protect that victim'

Jeffrey Peterson is accused of setting fire to his brother’s Marseilles house while his brother was trapped inside – and while Peterson was under a court order to stay away.

That was enough for a judge on Wednesday to rule that Peterson needs to be held in the La Salle County Jail while awaiting trial.

“I can’t think of anything to protect that victim,” Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. ruled, noting that a no-contact order already had been tried. The judge ordered Peterson to return to court Feb. 20 for arraignment.

Peterson, 45, has been in custody since Thursday, the day he allegedly set the fire using balloons filled with gasoline or another accelerant.

Peterson currently is charged with aggravated arson, a Class X felony carrying six to 30 years, but La Salle County prosecutors said attempted murder still is under review. Last week, Peterson asked for time to look for a private lawyer.

Peterson appeared Wednesday in La Salle County Circuit Court but without private counsel. Ryan approved his request for a public defender. Public Defender Ryan Hamer asked for pretrial release, citing Peterson’s clean record, low risk assessment (a 2 on a 14-point scale) and the “circumstantial case” against him.

But La Salle County prosecutor Greg Sticka said Peterson needs to be detained because he is a threat to the victim, who was trapped in his basement bedroom. The victim had to be helped out of the burning house through a basement window. Damage to the home was termed “significant.”

Sticka said Peterson had engaged in a “fairly extreme conduct of escalation,” as he was charged in a domestic incident with his brother and now is charged with setting his brother’s house on fire.

“I would contend the allegations are alarming,” Sticka said, “and shows a blatant disregard for the previous court order of no-contact with the victim.”

As previously reported, the victim told authorities that he was awakened by what he suspected were sounds of forced entry. He then heard the smoke detectors go off and saw flames upstairs.

The victim told police that he looked at the top of the basement stairs and saw his brother hurling what looked like water balloons. One of the balloons did not rupture and was found partially filled. A fire commander found “several separate ignition points” and several “soft plastic balls that appeared to have imploded.”

Police then obtained a search warrant for Peterson’s motel room in Ottawa. There, police picked up the odor of gas or another flammable liquid. Inside the room was a paper bag with matches, Scotch tape and tissues.