Employee Accused of Torching Restaurant After Meeting with Insurance Agent

One Illinois man took the holiday/Chinese restaurant tradition to a whole new level on New Year’s Eve when police say he set fire to a Chinese restaurant owned by his sister. Hopefully he won’t make that a tradition.

According to the Palos Patch, Hui Zheng, 39, who worked at Canton Express, has been charged with arson and insurance fraud after being accused of setting fire to his sister’s restaurant on December 31^st.

He appeared in court on January 3^rd before Judge Joan O’Brien, who set his bond at $50,000.

Prosecutors said Zheng — following an alleged burglary at the Chinese restaurant on Dec. 29, in which part of the floor was burned — was told by an insurance agent that only food supplies contaminated by gasoline would be reimbursed in a claim.

Prosecutors also noted that Zheng was seen later on at a Citgo gas station filling a gas can.  Nothing unusual about that.  Except that prosecutors also say the gas can was later used to ignite the Canton Express kitchen.

After the restaurant roof exploded, a witness from a neighboring apartment balcony allegedly saw Zheng take off in his car.

According to prosecutors, Zheng called police from his car and was arrested later that night.

One might wonder if was he trying to simply contaminate the food with gasoline after hearing that from the agent, or raise the claim to a new level by starting a fire. Regardless of the alleged intentions, a fire broke out and due to severe structural damage, a demolition crew was immediately called in to aid in the building’s collapse. The restaurant was closed at the time, and no injuries were reported.

Arthur Porto, Zheng’s attorney, said the Chinese immigrant has been living in the United States for two decades and most recently worked at the family restaurant. He notes that Zheng was also living inside the restaurant at the time of the fire.

Court records show that charges of domestic assault and domestic battery have been pressed and dropped against Zhang in recent years.

Two female family members were present in court and paid $5,000 to get him out of jail.