Streator woman started house fire, threatened homeowner while wearing ankle monitor: prosecutors

A Streator woman was ordered jailed Wednesday for allegedly setting fire to a residence, where damage was limited, while she wore an ankle monitor.

Amanda R. Wood, 54, appeared Wednesday in La Salle County Circuit Court and was presented with four felony charges led by aggravated arson, a Class 2 felony carrying a sentence of three to seven years in prison.

She also is charged with two counts of criminal trespass to property, a Class 4 felony carrying one to three years, and a misdemeanor count of violating conditions of her release.

Wood was charged after Streator police were dispatched to the 1000 block of East LaRue Street. There, a residence had a portion of siding and a basement door on fire, although the fire was quickly extinguished. A gas can was found nearby.

At a detention hearing, prosecutor Greg Sticka said Wood had, minutes earlier, entered the residence and confronted the homeowner, growing loud and throwing objects about. Wood, he said, acted in defiance of court orders, as she’d been barred from the residence and occupant after an April 30 domestic incident.

However, Wood was found to have returned to the residence within days, prompting La Salle County prosecutors to draw up new restrictions. Wood was released from custody again May 14, this time with GPS monitoring, and told to stay away.

Despite the revised order, Wood allegedly reentered the property late Monday and “threatened to kill” the occupant, who barred himself inside a bedroom. Wood, Sticka said, obtained a shovel and tried to break down the door. The victim called for police, who arrived in time to observe and put out the fire.

While home invasion was listed among preliminary charges in a Streator police report, La Salle County prosecutors chose not to file that charge. Wood appears to have used a key to gain entry, and court records listed her as a resident of the home.

Sticka asked Circuit Judge Michelle A. Vescogni to detain Wood, citing her “escalating” pattern of conduct over a 21-day span and an above-average risk assessment, in which she scored eight on a 14-point scale.

“Less-restricted alternatives were attempted,” Sticka said. “We are at the point in time where there are no less-restrictive means than detention.”

In response, Public Defender Ryan Hamer reminded Vescogni that all defendants enjoy a presumption of pretrial release and, in any case, prosecutors couldn’t show that Wood had committed the acts by clear and convincing evidence. There were no eyewitnesses to the fire being set, and the evidence linking Wood to the fire was “circumstantial at best.”

Hamer further noted that Wood has a history of drug abuse and “a pretty clear-cut mental health component, as well,” making sanctions, rather than custody, a better alternative to get her help.

Vescogni acknowledged the circumstantial evidence for arson but nonetheless ruled out another shot at pretrial release, even with new restrictions.

“We’ve already tried that,” the judge said. “We’ve tried it twice.”

Wood will return to court June 6 for appearance with counsel and arraignment. Although Hamer represented her on the issue of detention, Wood told the court that she would seek private legal counsel.