across the highway from Chicago's world-renowned oare International Airport and in the shadow of Rosemonts famous All State Arena on October the 17th 2024 a disaster is brewing at the local neighborhood Target Superstore w hey we going hey back up pull back hey hey get every send everybody back send everybody back you want to let them know [Applause] um I think my age what went off on fire what is this you know what this is is this the fire no no yeah fire fire what is it uh uh diaper some on fire I think someone up I think my [Applause] go everyone's got to go the Freez in the I'm going to go with her to do a walk around the store all right let's go [Applause] there's fire [Applause] myap what's that whistling sound anyone in the back no I just watch back the the freezers too yeah everyone's out there probably right through the front door something's like whistling straight ahead on the left and right there come in the main entrance and go straight ahead can't miss it he said maybe someone must have started it yeah yeah every's out right [Music] [Applause] now hey did someone start this some start this I have no idea they just on Milwaukee and then everything started like f all right you guys get out get out get out there's no one in the bathrooms you know of they checked there's no one in the back room nothing let's get the out of here yeah they did a full walk through okay hey do we know if anyone started it no idea like we were all mining our own business and someone goes on the walk there's a fire in diapers I we just hear everyone start screaming and then we went out there the fire was back up over there I got 1209 pushing on the car like out the lot that way they trying to bail yeah's that right there hey ma'am hey just you from the premise there's a fire in the building please thank you like a be 1456 what he say hey what is what what did he say get out of the way Sean Che bathroom everybody's out employes everybody employes confirm everyone's out why don't you go over just main take some traffic on this way maintain some traffic on that way so another get into the fire seat good thing they had all that practice this [Music] morning out no dud there [ __ ] T of smoke there there diapers yeah diapers on fire that's kind of strange arson someone said it a lot of smoke right that in the [Music] door the manager yeah you okay I'm just having a hard time catching my it's got to be someone must L on fire relax relax wait someone's in there no no no no somewhere else locally he's not here don't worry um from what I saw the fire was like in the higher shelf it was I mean no one no one could diapers don't really go on fire itself you know what I mean yeah it was isolated and it started and that's how hey you guys just back up back up dep l you hooking this [Music] up he's hooking it up to the engine you hooking this one up to that yeah hook up to that well why it's two mail ends we need I'm about to say I'm like we're looking stupid all right you're [Applause] fine standing by right now no hey I'll put my squad car here so at least they can see that at least you put no I'll put my your just good here you want like up it's good yeah such idiots such idiots as the fire team and police work together to mitigate the disaster a detective arrives to ensure the department isn't caught with their pants down what we got someone fire of the diapers there's a lot of smoke in there we at we were right here when it happened literally I care literally sat down as it star to come out of my B hole so this comes in like you got it every single time every single time a car comes in that's pants all the way down [ __ ] I wonder who uh they're reviewing the cameras right now uh one of the target guys thinks he put it out with the extinguisher already but it looks way worse with the smoke that's a yeah that's a lot of started at the top of so they said it was big it was a big fire you see anybody walking out here that looked uh Shady oh we ran over here to so we pulled up there's people everywhere okay she's reviewing cameras right now I'm going start trying to talk to some people to system and apply the standby give me that coupling I'll all right that's what you think yeah let's break it there it look like they got enough [Applause] all right this is good okay give you another 50 that's good okay we're not going to charge it right now [Applause] [Applause] go inside the building search we don't all people are in the building you guys inside yeah we were TR so you guys didn't see any are you guys all inside when it happened see anything any see anybody that could have Maybe started nothing okay hello were you guys inside what going happen do you guys see anything see anybody that may have started it may have some that looked a little suspicious thing smoke in the air okay so youarm went off just smoke okay okay no problem do you guys see anything you guys were you guys inside yeah we were inside you guys didn't see anything anybody that could have possibly may have started or anyone suspicious or anything okay hello hey were you guys inside at the time were you guys Starbucks yeah just me I wasn't in there yet you weren't in there yet no okay did you see anybody sorry I know no I mean I just heard someone say fire all the 911 and then that was when trying to block the Sun for you it's okay is that when uh and then I look and I see the fire but you didn't see anyone suspicious car anyway no I didn't see anyone yeah you were were you at the Starbucks at no it's on fire on fire yeah that's why we're all here so can you please just go somewhere safe please just go away okay thank you you think it's open right now do you think it's open Jesus I walked up thinking it was open kind of weird it's kind of weird do of [Applause] buing yeah yeah we have we're doing that right now hey Ricker Ricker Ricker Hey sir can I talk to you where did you happen to be inside Target yeah I went to I was to go to shopping yeah but the officer told me you take your hand out out yeah fire okay fire but uh I don't know what happened I believe there yeah okay they're going they're going to ask you some questions you not you don't have any anything on you right just talk to some of the other people around it uh you stick with him he's going to ask you some questions I'll be right back all right just it looked looked off to me you inside Target I to go to shopping to Target but I I didn't know with a fire the officer told me was there is a fire you don't know what happened no no no this so you're inside shopping no no no no no no no I was not inside you were never inside no right now no no this now no no no were you inside there earlier I tried to P but off no no no so you never went inside no no no never never okay never all right lives in town I live over there I live there in you didn't see anybody lighting fire or nothing no no no said he was never inside no noic no okay which car is yours no I live in ital you walked here two blocks walking you walked here walked here you walked here yeah walking came to walk all right where did the target I'm trying to find her oh she's right there next to the guy in the white hat or red hat you saw somebody department and then I heard the guy like he works like he was like the 18t guy you know how they have him set up and started yelling fire call 911 and no one kind of believed it so I like peeked my head over and I see from the ceiling it wasn't the ceiling it was like a fixture hanging from the ceiling it like a cardboard fixture I don't know if it was like by the things or here something in the middle of like the baby area there's like a cardboard fixture it was on fire and then all of a sudden you saw smoke it was hanging from the ceiling you something hanging from the ceiling that was like started it was like you saw big Flames like big orange flames and then I but it was nothing on the shells that you saw not that I saw there was like an encasement I don't know what was surrounding it like a big tall thing and then it was like a cardboard thing hanging from the ceiling and then I just ran out yelling fire don't want to go in like the people still walking behind like past me I'm like there's a fire back there and I ran out but I'll F right here we lost prevention right uh property manager lost prevention's there you didn't like see anyone like running no but no cuz it was already on fire when the guy was yelling fire 911 out when I all right thank you so much she's going to log in and she's going to try to review it okay yeah cuz what we're thinking is if if someone did do that they're probably scaming around here somewhere yeah I I it had to admit I can't think of anything that would start fire the one that said you put it out right I I don't know if I did I put a whole fire s a ceiling fixture on the Shelf actually it so when I first went in there there it's all diapers right it's a roll of diapers and then there was like three or four diapers and it looked like a b fire you know like like the way it it burned so it looked like that is where it started from is there something hanging from the ceiling you know a piece of cardboard like signing so maybe that caught too when I got there it was really high that's what she was saying he says it was definitely a row of diapers on the Shelf when I got there you know like when a fire starts you could tell cuz like it looked like that it looked like just diapers and it was around like Charco or whatever you want to call it kind of like it started there you the on so I haven't heard any other story that's what he thinks possibly [Applause] [Music] B so you were the one that called it in right that she was um fixing stuff on the wall she turned around and she [Music] [Applause] just she wanted to make sure what it was so she walked towards it and she saw two boxes of diapers and it was already touching the poster the Flames uh-huh yeah how big how big were the Flames like they were like I'm talking like probably like 5et it was really fast okay um did you see anybody suspicious anybody that would yeah she just saw a lady buying babies clothes but she hadn't even seen it okay but nothing suspicious that would draw your attention to some of that might set a fire no I mean like I heard somebody call like I I heard a lady be like somebody calling and I went towards it because I was like somebody's passed out somebody you know someone's in trouble you know I didn't expect it to be a fire so I went towards it and it was just it was just a lady and her two kids that's the only one who I saw around that baby area around it yeah and like her kids were freaking out I was like it's okay you know like let's go to the front like come on like you know but I didn't see anybody like run away from that like that's what you saw not what she saw correct yeah okay she just was saying that she saw a lady shopping her faite clothes but that she didn't notice like so she was just literally in in the baby section area all of a sudden she turned around and all of a sudden yeah that she saw smoke like went towards it cuz she wanted to make sure what it was she saw the Flames okay hello were you guys inside no no you just out here yeah okay so you were never inside a Target at all no okay I was planning play inside not anymore not anymore good thing you weren't do any employees have like a pertinent statement that they might have seen something suspicious in there anyone no okay there was Guy okay sometimes sometimes in weird situations that people actually like to like you know person who sets it off will call it out sometimes but uh was it an employee or was it a civilian it was a civilian okay and you remember what they looked like uh guy 4050 had a beard but I don't remember had a beard was he a white hispanic black you remember white or Hispanic okay do you see that guy out here no I I don't remember told the face okay but you said it was a middle middleaged guy with a beard middle-aged guy with a beard okay he seemed like he said it right after like the fire started like immediately so mean okay and that was who and did you guys see him call that out heard okay from that aisle or like he was near that area near that area and did you guys get to see him like a good face no no I I looked at the fire and I my te MERS okay you guys are all target employees we are Target te oh they're Tech guys okay all three of you are okay they're first day second day yeah first second okay oh welcome this doesn't always happen I um hi I'm sorry I'm a I'm a detective with rose um he mentioned that you were kind of one of the first you and him he were kind of one of the first ones okay I didn't notice anyone okay Vision not worried about that um but I mean thank you um that would have been later question now did you see anything that may have started that I didn't see anything okay I I get I know it's there's a fire I know smoke and everything I know like you said you had tunnel vision but that's fine Danielle you leave and the store Goes Up in Flames who's this she's our store director on maternity Le I'm on Le I can't hug you because I'm full of what do they call it carcity or something oh yeah me too are you sure I just better get a good ass raise this year is all I know I mean they they two tried to put it out app so any luck with the exterior cameras not yet I'm breing on it want to sit down we're going to go we're going to go to nor doors go iess AR or something but there's two people from Target corporate fing too she was trying to figure out how to walk in it is set a couple of these guys scar more on the suspect later but for now know that Target would estimate their losses due to the fire smoke and water damage at between $ 1.5 million and $5 million the store would be closed for the following 3 weeks during repairs costing the company revenue from the early stages of the year's lucrative fourth quarter let's listen in as this officer takes a statement from a firefighter as they Sosh around inside the store all right so when did you go in uh we the radio Commander Squad 56 that uh that it the fire was in the baby section we told that he thought 200 ft of preconnect would work okay so we pulled this preconnect we made it about 80% of the way there 90% of the way there okay um at that point we kind of dropped the line we got a visual of like the actual fire itself okay like it was coming from a section of diapers did did you see that did you see the diaper were I did I saw actual Flames so yeah and then when we came in the whole kind of store itself had uh smoke conditions probably about I don't know couple feet from the ceiling I mean you could still see but it it was starting to fill up the entirety of the store um and then by the time that we made our way Straight Ahead we could actually see visible flame coming from that little section of power you said there were boxes of diapers mhm okay did you see which box of diapers was on fire um I would have to look at whatever uh like the greenish Pampers no not that but like it was it the front box on the shelf or was it the back box I feel like it was the front box the front like if it was yeah if it was staggered it' probably be the front the front section okay and did you see anything they may have started the fire anything like that that you I know you were trying to F fire but like nothing not that I saw um and then even later on when we kind of cleared the smoke it it seemed to be from what I remember almost like two rows of different types of diapers and like wipes and stuff so everything kind of baby related I don't think I saw anything okay sounds good uh if you think anything else let me know appreciate it fortunately Target's asset protection team was soon able to access their camera system and track a suspect's movements all throughout the store including his interest in a bottle of lighter fluid they were even able to identify the exact shopping cart he used to leave the store with an additional $318 worth of stolen merchandise from the cart police collected fingerprint and DNA evidence and oh yes also identified his vehicle which was reported stolen from a used car lot in Nevada then through tracking the vehicle's stolen license plate via a nationwide surveillance system police were able to trace the suspect's path from Nevada to Idaho back down through Utah and Iowa and finally into Illinois going further police investigators found that the vehicle was now located in nearby Elk Grove Village in the car park of a Motel 6 we rejoin officers from Rosemont and Elk Gro Village the following day as together they converge upon room 225 to bring this alleged arsonist to Justice Danny yeah how you doing can you come the door huh can you come open the door please where is it it's the police just want to talk to you can you open the door please okay sure hold on is there anyone else in there with you huh are you with anybody no no I'm not okay a problem uh no we just want to talk to you about uh couple things all right no problem appreciate that huh I said I appreciate that Danny what you doing man no violence huh no violence how you doing all right come on come on I'm you smoking in here you can understand why you're not you're not supposed to be smok come out here for me finish you can finish it out here come on out here you got any weapons or anything on you no sir I don't car weapons come on out here can okay right now okay no violence no violence you to keep yeah okay where's it at it's in the room okay okay all right right now you're uh you're being detained for investigation purp just relax a little bit no violence no pretty violent that's who did the ex brother inla who's your ex brother brother-in-law is a murderer who's your ex- brother-in-law junior he R it I ran from him because he St to kill me a murderer is this your wallet you mind if I take this out what is it well it's my wallet a murderer bred on me so you can try and pin some [ __ ] on me out inen he out be done on Earth bu give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trust is there anyone in else in the room no sir okay just you yes sir okay what time did you get Heir about uh been a couple hours ago and I decided to take a nap okay where you sleeping just yeah yes sir okay um what's in their personal belongings or anything like that uh just some toiletries and clothes that's it okay um you don't have the key the keys is not in here for this room no it's on the it's on the desktop it's on the desktop in there yeah okay there's there's nothing illegal or otherwise in there okay um sounds good you good all right we're going to walk you down in the car um this is ID with hold my pants up so you know just turn hold my pants I got you man yeah I have a an Arizona ID is that the is that your most current yes sir dny is it okay if we go in the room and uh take a look around yeah sure absolutely you're giving us consent for that yeah yeah okay nothing to hide I'll walk with him if you yeah if you don't mind yeah can you tell me what this is about uh so Rosemont had a has PC to arrest you that's a Rosemont detect the plan Clos he's the guy that knows everything I just got here literally 10 minutes ago so I have no idea what's going on man I'm not going to pull sh was walk between the cars here to come what's your first name Danny Danny Danny I'm officer R okay I'm with go M the suspect identified as Danny Ellis aged 57 was charged with aggravated arson he was held without bond I have a seat in there and when that officer gets back here um you got any questions for you or if you have questions for him he'll be willing to answer like I said I just got here man I'm treating you with respect so I expect the same thing all right [ __ ] hurts so be careful I got you man I got uh got a heart problem so you got a heart problem out with me a little bit all right I've got chest pains and stuff like that I was going to a doctor for it take time o [Music]