Office Overview | Victim Services | Press Room | Community Resources | What's New | Careers | Juvenile Justice | Contact

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez today joined local law enforcement agencies to present the 2010 Illinois Arson Awards, presented to citizens and law enforcement officers whose support and cooperation helped to convict criminals charged with arson.

Firefighters, police officers, arson investigators, prosecutors and average citizens who helped solve arson cases and testified at criminal trials were honored for their assistance.  According to Alvarez, the work of the awardees led to the successful conviction of a number of defendants in several high-profile arson crimes that have occurred in Chicago and Cook County in recent years. 

“Today we honored individuals whose unselfish acts not only saved lives, but helped to convict those charged with the frightening and deadly crime of arson,” Alvarez said.  “Many of these crimes would have gone unsolved if it were not for their selfless actions.”

The awards are co-sponsored by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Illinois Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention.  In addition to the 13 citizens who received cash awards ranging from $500 to $1,000, a total of 29 law enforcement officials received recognition for their assistance in providing information on cases that have led to successful prosecutions and suppression of arson in Illinois.

Among the recipients of the awards were:

• Armando Perez, Oscar Perez, Georgina Ramirez and Tanya Perez for their assistance and testimony at the trial of Sonia Lebron, convicted of starting an October 2006 fire in suburban Cicero, killing Raquel Perez, and her 6-year-old son Cesar Camacho while they were sleeping. Victim Witness Specialist Edith Gonzalez was also recognized for her work on the case. Lebron was sentenced to natural life in prison.
  
  
• Dedric Scales for his assistance in the prosecution of Raymond Lee and Jonathan Mitchell, convicted of starting a deadly fire in January 2000 on the city’s far south side, killing two elderly men. Both victims were bound, gagged and doused with gasoline then left in the burning home. Both Lee and Mitchell were sentenced to natural life in prison.
  
  
• Patrick Butler, and Christine and Siefried Luck for their assistance and testimony in the prosecution of Kristy Ballard, convicted of starting a June 2009 fire on the city’s south side. Ballard was sentenced to 8 ½ years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
  
• Althea Robinson and Samantha Steele for their assistance and testimony at the trial of Tommy Lee Ferguson, convicted of starting a July 2009 fire to an occupied apartment building on the city’s south side. Ferguson was sentenced to 9 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

- Back -