The Evanston Fire Department responded to a fire at an apartment building on the 1400 block of Chicago Avenue in downtown Evanston at around 3:30 a.m. on Monday.

A man located in the area “made statements implicating himself” in the fire and was taken into custody for further investigation, said Evanston police communications coordinator Perry Polinski.

Evanston Police Department officers questioned the man, who told them he carelessly discarded a cigarette, Polinksi said.

Upon consulting with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, officers charged him with criminal damage to property and reckless conduct, Polinski said.

“The fire was extremely negligible,” Polinski added.

Watches stolen in west Evanston

EPD officers responded to a report of a theft on Friday in the 1500 block of Fowler Avenue in west Evanston at around 10 p.m.

A 44-year-old Evanston resident told officers that a box containing around 20 watches was stolen from an apartment belonging to her son sometime between Nov. 1 and Nov. 5., Polinski said.

The woman was in the process of vacating the apartment on behalf of her son, and told officers the watch’s total value was around $10,000, Polinski added.

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