Prosecutors say Melrose Park man accused of setting 'Walking Man' on fire is a 'special kind of evil'
CHICAGO - Joseph Guardia allegedly stood over a 75-year-old homeless man for 16 seconds before pouring liquid on him, and then setting him on fire, prosecutors said.
Guardia, 27, is currently facing attempted first-degree murder charges for this attack
Just before 3 a.m. last Wednesday, 75-year-old Joseph Kromelis was sleeping on the apron of the Renelle Condominium parking garage located at 401 N. Lower Wabash, prosecutors said.
Kromelis is homeless, and is known as the "Walking Man," as he tends to walk the city frequently — regardless of the weather.
According to prosecutors, surveillance video from Trump Tower allegedly shows the victim sleeping on the ground with blankets covering parts of his body.
His legs from the knees down and his head appear to be exposed.
About 10 minutes prior to the incident, the defendant, Guardia, is allegedly seen on surveillance video from Rush and Hubbard.
Prosecutors say he was walking while carrying a cup in his hand, and walking in the direction of Lower Wabash.
Guardia is allegedly seen wearing a white windbreaker with black around the shoulders. The words "HOOD RICH" were also printed on the chest.
Prosecutors say Guardia is also seen wearing black pants and navy blue sandals.
Joseph Guardia, 27
Other surveillance video showed that Guardia had a "$" sign tattoo on his right cheek, and that "HOOD RICH" was also on the hood of the windbreaker, prosecutors said.
Guardia allegedly continued walking on Lower Wabash until he got to Kromelis, who was still sleeping on the ground.
Prosecutors say Guardia stood over Kromelis for 16 seconds, just looking at him, and there appeared to be no sort of interaction at that time.
Guardia then allegedly walked a short distance to the intersection near where the victim was sleeping at Lower Wabash and Kinzie.
No traffic was going or coming at this time, prosecutors said.
Guardia then allegedly walked back to the victim, stood over him and poured liquid from the cup onto Kromelis' head and lit him on fire.
His upper body became engulfed in flames, and as Kromelis got up and began thrashing around, trying to put the fire out, Guardia took off running.
The fire spread to the lower portion of Kromelis' torso, and his entire upper half of his body was engulfed.
Kromelis continued to try to get the fire to stop, and a nearby wall and his blankets also ignited.
He eventually slumped against the wall, still burning and moving less and less, prosecutors said.
A security guard for Trump Tower then saw the surveillance video and came out. Once he saw Kromelis, he ran for a fire extinguisher and was able to put out the fire.
Prosecutors say Kromelis was on fire for about three minutes.
Another Trump Tower security guard came to help, and together, they consoled the victim and waited for emergency personnel to arrive.
An extra large McDonald's cup without a lid was recovered from the scene and sent to the Illinois State Police Crime lab for forensic testing
Detectives were able to track Guardia's flight from the scene using surveillance cameras, prosecutors said.
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Guardia allegedly got on the CTA Blue Line towards O'Hare, and road it all the way to O'Hare. He then allegedly got off, and got back on the Blue Line going the opposite direction and exiting at Forest Park.
Prosecutors say he then got on a Pace Bus, which he rode to Melrose Park near 25th Street. During this flight, Guardia was allegedly wearing the same clothes as when he set Kromelis on fire.
Police used the surveillance footage to release a bulletin, and one of the people who saw it, a Melrose Park police officer, allegedly recognized Guardia, and said he has known him since they were children.
He contacted Chicago police and informed them of who the person in the bulletin was, prosecutors said.
The Melrose Park police officer also works as a security guard at a Melrose Park plasma center, and said he saw Guardia there earlier in the day — prior to the release of the bulletin.
Surveillance footage from the plasma center was also recovered, and allegedly showed him there the day after the incident wearing the same clothes as he was when he allegedly committed this crime.
Additional footage showed Guardia there three days before the crime — also wearing the same clothes, prosecutors said.
An individual in Melrose Park then recognized Guardia on May 27 and called 911.
Guardia was arrested, and was wearing the same clothing as when he allegedly committed this crime, prosecutors said.
Guardia told detectives that he found the McDonald's cup full of gasoline of top of some garbage, and said that he is an angry person and was going to set something on fire. He said he was going to burn some trash, prosecutors said.
Guardia then allegedly said he poured the gas on some blankets and used a lighter to set them on fire and ran.
He said he didn't know a person was there.
Doctors say Kromelis has severe burns to more than 50 percent of his body, and that he has non-survivable injuries. He is not expected to recover, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say that it takes "a special kind of evil" to do what Guardia allegedly did to Kromelis.
A judge denied bail for Guardia.