CHICAGO (CBS) — A man was charged with aggravated arson Sunday after police said he admitted to starting a fire in the Mallers Building on Jewelers Row downtown.
Daniel Nieves, 23, of the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, turned himself in at the Grand Central (25th) District police station around 2:15 p.m. Sunday, police said.
He admitted that he started the fire in the Mallers Building at Wabash Avenue and Madison Street, which broke out just after 4 a.m. Thursday, police said.
The fire started on the 10th floor of the 23-story building, which houses 180 jewelry shops.
Two firefighters suffered heat exhaustion and were taken to a local hospital while fighting the fire.
The day after the fire, security manager Leonard Norah said a suspect was caught on camera. The video showed the suspect entering the building around 2:15 a.m. Thursday and checking in with security.
“She asked the gentleman to sign in,” Norah told CBS 2’s Jeremy Ross on Friday. “It was a false name. He goes up to the 10th floor.
There was also a fire at the Mallers Building in 2018. That fire gutted the fourth floor.
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