NO BAIL FOR MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN FATAL SOUTH SHORE FIRE
Freddie Polk was ordered held without bail Thursday on charges of aggravated arson and first- degree murder in connection with a fire at a South Shore apartment that left a paraplegic man dead.
Polk set the fire around 7 p. m. on Jan. 16 inside a wheelchair- bound friend’s apartment in a 10- story building in the 7100 block of East South Shore Drive, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Joseph Carlson said at a bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
After several hours of drinking, the two men argued and the fight turned physical, with Polk knocking the victim, 39- year- old Preston Tullos, out of his wheelchair, Carlson said.
Surveillance video showed Polk leaving the apartment about 10 minutes before neighbors reported smoke coming from Tullos’ apartment, Carlson said.
Firefighters found Tullos, badly burned, next to a small fire in the middle of the living room. Twothirds of Tullos’ body was covered in burns, including his head, neck, chest, abdomen and back. Tullos died the following day at Stroger Hospital.
Polk, 35, admitted to police that he set the fire after getting into a fight, Carlson said.
A police report indicates Polk was arrested Monday on South State Street in Englewood, after he was reported by a shop owner for selling loose cigarettes.