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Streator woman charged with aggravated arson · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Streeter woman charged with aggravated arson written by Tom Collins.
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  Speaker 1: This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  Speaker 1: to you by Everlett. A Streeter woman was ordered detained
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  Speaker 1: Monday after she allegedly set fire to her own residence.
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  Speaker 1: Attorneys said in open court that mental health issues may
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  Speaker 1: be in play. Margaret M. Buckley, fifty nine, of Streeter,
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  Speaker 1: appeared in LaSalle County Circuit Court and was presented with
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  Speaker 1: three counts of aggravated arson, all class EX felonies carrying
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  Speaker 1: six to thirty years in prison with no possibility of probation. Additionally,
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  Speaker 1: any conviction would be subject to the State Truth and
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  Speaker 1: Sentencing Act, requiring certain felons to serve at least eighty
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  Speaker 1: five percent of their prison time. In open court Monday,
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  Speaker 1: prosecutor Matt Kidder said Streeter police and firefighters were dispatched
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  Speaker 1: Saturday to a residential fire in the fourteen high undred
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  Speaker 1: block of Union Street. She was picked up in Ottawa
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  Speaker 1: and transported to LaSalle County Jail at seven five pm Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: The residence was found partially engulfed, Kitterer said, and a
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  Speaker 1: witness told police that Buckley poured some liquid, possibly an
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  Speaker 1: accelerant into the residence. The witness, he said, indicated Buckley
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  Speaker 1: has mental health issues. When questioned by police, Kidder said
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  Speaker 1: Buckley admitted she obtained a gallon of water, poured it out,
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  Speaker 1: refilled it with gasoline, and took it inside. Thereafter, Kidder
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  Speaker 1: said Buckley's story migrated. At one point she told police
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  Speaker 1: the fire was an accident, but later said she wanted
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  Speaker 1: to harm herself. We certainly feel she poses a real
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  Speaker 1: and present threat to the other occupants and the public,
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  Speaker 1: Kitdter said, asking for Buckley to be denied pre trial release.
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  Speaker 1: Assistant Public Defender Brad Poperella, who sat in for the
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  Speaker 1: detention hearing while Buckley searches for a private lawyer, asked
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  Speaker 1: for supervised release with GPS monitoring. Luckley scored low on
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  Speaker 1: a risk assessment three out of fourteen and had a
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  Speaker 1: limited and distant criminal record. Poperella further argued there were
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  Speaker 1: components of mental health and suggested a mental health evaluation
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  Speaker 1: might be forthcoming. Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Junior denied
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  Speaker 1: Buckley's bid for release and set an August thirteenth court date.