Mendota man held (for now) for residential arson

A Mendota man was supposed to stand for a detention hearing Friday for allegedly setting fire to his apartment complex (damage was not significant), but he simplified matters by refusing to come out of his cell.

Robert A. Bugiyne, 62, was scheduled to appear Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court to be presented with one count of residential arson, a Class 1 felony carrying four to 15 years in prison.

Bugiyne, however, was a no-show. He told La Salle County corrections officers he wouldn’t come out of his cell. Attorneys reset the detention hearing for Aug. 21 and Bugiyne will remain in custody for the time being.

Bugiyne was charged after Mendota police were summoned around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to the 100 block of South Third Avenue to investigate a fire with “suspicious origins.”

According to court records, an eyewitness told police he saw Bugiyne start a fire at the apartment complex where both the witness and Bugiyne resided. The witness told police he saw Bugiyne use a cigarette lighter and paper to set off a series of ignition points around the perimeter of the complex.

Bugiyne, prosecutors allege, was uncooperative and “made comments that he would shoot (police) if they went to his residence again.”

Prosecutors filed a motion to deny Bugiyne pre-trial release. In the pleading, prosecutors said Bugiyne is on conditional discharge for burglary, has a pending misdemeanor and is under a no-contact order sought by a neighbor.