Student faces felony charges in TP roll fire

A 17-year-old student who is accused of setting a toilet paper roll on fire at West Aurora High School could be facing a mandatory six-year prison sentence.

Micah Johnson, of the 1900 block of Bayview Lane, Aurora, was charged with felony aggravated arson and arson for starting the toilet paper on fire at 10:40 a.m. Monday inside a bathroom at West High, police said.

Johnson is a student at the school, police said.

The aggravated arson charge is a Class X felony, punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison. If convicted, he would not be eligible for probation.

The Kane County state's attorney's office said Wednesday that the aggravated arson was charged as a Class X felony because it took place in a school, where Johnson would have had reasonable knowledge that people were nearby.

The other arson was charged as a Class 2 felony, meaning if he were convicted, Johnson could still be eligible for probation.

The fire caused about $250 in damage, but no one was injured, authorities said.

West Aurora High School was placed on lockdown for nearly 90 minutes Monday, following an hourlong fire evacuation.

Firefighters were called to the school around 10:30 a.m. on the report of a small fire.

Students and faculty evacuated the building until 11:45 a.m., but were restricted to classrooms until 1:10 p.m. because of something found during the investigation, West Aurora spokesman Mike Chapin said.

Without elaborating on the other incident, police said the fire and the item found appear to be unrelated.

Hallway video cameras helped identify a possible suspect, police said.