Kids set fire to recycling bin

An unidentified group of children set fire to an old recycling bin in west Evanston on Saturday.

The children allegedly set fire to the bin in the 2300 block of Grey Avenue at 1:20 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses reported that five children, each about 10 years of age, set the fire, Evanston Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott said. The children fled the scene on foot after a witness began yelling at them, Parrott said. The Evanston fire department responded and extinguished the flames, and the fire did not spread from the bin. It is unknown how the children started the fire, Parrott said.

Graffiti reported in park on Ashland Avenue

Evanston Police responded to a report of criminal defacement in a park in the 100 block of Ashland Avenue on Monday.

The exact date of the graffiti is unknown, although it was reported to police Monday. The image consisted of possible male genitalia and words on a tree trunk “that we’re not going to report,” Parrott said. This graffiti is unrelated to the rash of at least 12 incidents of gang graffiti that occurred in late February and early March, he said.

— Ciara McCarthy

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